Loic Remy: Set for a return to the Premier League with Newcastle

The Frenchman was left out of QPR's squad to face Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend and is now poised to seal a return to the Premier League as part of a season-long arrangement.

Newcastle are desperate for fresh firepower ahead of the new campaign but had been warned by R's boss Harry Redknapp they would have to stump up £2m to borrow a player that cost £8m in January.

"We paid about £8m for him, so if someone wants to loan him for a year, we are entitled to get £2m a year for him," Redknapp said.

"Make no mistake, he will get between 15 and 20 goals next season if he goes to a Premier League club. He is a top-class player - a player for any club in the Premier League in my opinion."

A deal for Remy, who scored six goals in 14 appearances for the Loftus Road club, would represent a crucial breakthrough for the Magpies' under-fire director of football, Joe Kinnear.

Kinnear is still locked in talks with Lyon over another striker, Bafetimbi Gomis, and sought this weekend to reassure fans awaiting a first summer arrival that he was not "dragging his heels" in the transfer market.