Stoke maintain Carroll interest.
Posted on June 14th, 2010 | 179 Comments |
Now Andy Carroll looks like he is being placed firmly in that bracket by the press as yet more rumours of a move away from Newcastle surface.
Which is understandable as a player with the potential that Andy Carroll displayed last season will sort of always be in demand. We have heard of links of a move to Blackburn, Bolton, Chelsea and Stoke, all of which have been soundly blown out of the water by the player himself who has come out to the press and admitted previously that he has everything he could dream of whilst playing for his boyhood team, whilst also not forgetting our manger who has said he has no intention of letting Carroll leave.
Which is why you have to question any new or refreshed links of a move away that surface regarding Carroll, and in particular this latest link with Stoke, again. Apparently they will be either looking to offload James Beattie somewhere else and use the funds that they receive from that deal to pay towards an offer for Carroll, or they will look to give us Beattie plus cash in some form of cobbled together deal to take our future number nine to the ‘lovely’ place of Stoke-on-Trent.
But still, lets take a look at it anyway. Carroll would probably demand a fee in excess of £7 milllion if he was to move away, which is fair enough being young, talented, with potential, and being English. But does anyone feel that it is an awful lot of money for someone who is yet to be proven in the Premier League? I mean, put it this way, would you be happy if we paid £7 million for Michael Chopra? I know I wouldn’t be as Chopra has proved he can only really score goals at Championship level throughout his career. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Carroll can step up, but it also a lot of money to be placing behind just a belief that the player could do it. Still, if Stoke want to pay it then….
Then there is the second option, of brining a 32-year old James Beattie to Newcastle aswell as some cash to go with it. One word, why? Why would we sell a striker and replace him with a similar one that is much much older and would cost a lot more in wages I assume? It just wouldn’t make any sense, but then again this is Newcastle so you never know I guess.
I’m not averse to James Beattie, and it was his goals that ensured Stoke City survived so comfortably in the Premier League in that season that is best left forgotten. If we got him as an extra striker, then I wouldn’t mind at all really, but to get him as a replacement for a player who is already being monitored by the England setup would be foolish in my opinion.
Anyway, it’s more than likely just another rumour that is being dreamed up by some quarters of the press. The cold hard facts, regardless of what anyone says are that Carroll says he isn’t going anywhere, and Chris Hughton says he isn’t going anywhere. They are two things that have been said, I mean actually been said, so I would imagine that we will still see Carroll in a Newcastle shirt come the start of the new season.
Could it be that an enquiry has been made for Beattie and they have responded by demanding a swap deal?
Other than that, why would a young player of such promise want to go to a shit hole like Stoke to live and ply his trade?