Crystal Palace or West Ham could benefit from impending Falcao deal

The last 9-12 months had been a most welcome change.  We no longer had to worry.  We no longer had to fear.  After several years of struggling for goals from our center forwards, we had two who would score more often than not.  Even old man Didier contributed, especially in the first half of the season before time truly caught up with him.  Diego Costa hit the 20-goal mark despite nagging hamstring injuries.  Loic Remy, whenever also not injured, nearly hit double digits as well in his limited minutes.  In fact, the only real knock against our strike force last season was that Costa and Remy tended to get injured at the same time, which left Drogba playing more minutes than we had ever planned for him.

The obvious move to improve this situation, assuming that the first two strikers can stop coordinating their injuries, is to upgrade the third member of the trio.  That task was made all the easier by Didier Drogba retiring to (probably) MLS.  And yet, it would seem we're going for a more complicated solution, one that will involve more than just one move.  While in theory it sounds pretty good to replace Drogba with Falcao, given all the extra emphasis from Mourinho, not to mention the moneys and attention involved, there is a very real chance that our previously happy backup striker suddenly starts to explore a few different options.  And sure enough...

Loic Remy will consider his Chelsea future if Radamel Falcao completes his loan move from Monaco [as he] fears the signing will mean even fewer opportunities than last season...

-source: Mail

Granted, it could just be the Mail speculating.  But the gist of the story does match the Evening Standard's recent speculation as well, and it also fits with previous rumors regarding interest from Crystal Palace, West Ham United, and others.  Remy may have already felt a bit underutilized last season (and Mourinho agreed), but he seemed content to stay and play his part.  With Falcao's impending arrival, that story seems to changing... and not necessarily for the better.