Liverpool Favourite: Incoming Star Loic Remy Is A Steal At £8.5m

Mark Lawrenson believes Liverpool have done a great piece of business landing Loic Remy for £8.5m from QPR with the striker looking set to seal a move to the club next week.

Remy scored 14 goals in 27 appearances while on loan at Newcastle last season and has been in high demand as he considered a move away from Rangers, who were just promoted to the Premier League in the summer.

As Brendan Rodgers looks to replace Luis Suarez the signing of Remy might appear to be slightly underwhelming, but Lawrenson insists that the manger is looking to find a group of players who can make the whole of Suarez rather than a perfect replacement.

"Can Liverpool replace Luis Suarez? No," he told the Liverpool Echo. "Are marquee players available? I don't think so. But what Brendan has done is so, so clever.

"Instead of a direct replacement he has spread the load. There isn't that pressure on one player to get all the goals now. And in bringing in two or three to get 10 or so goals each, it brings an extra degree of flexibility to the squad."

Lawrenson also argued that Remy's flexibility to play in different positions puts him ahead of some of Liverpool's greatest strikers already.

"The club are on the brink of signing Loic Remy and we've pinched him. £8.5million is a steal for a player of his ability," he explained.

"In the nicest possible terms a Michael Owen or a Robbie Fowler were absolutely outstanding strikers.

"Could they play on the left or right of a three, though? No. They could only play through the middle so bringing players like Remy in allows Brendan to utilise so many different systems. That's exactly what he wants - flexibility.

"Say Sturridge gets injured, then Remy can play through the middle no problem."

Liverpool have so far signed five players in this transfer window, spending over £50m. Their deal with Remy was set to be confirmed last week but due to paperwork problems it was delayed over the weekend.