Is Carroll set for a return to the promised land after a year in the wilderness?
Posted on January 11th, 2012 | 58 Comments |
The big news to hit the press today is the rumours that Newcastle may be trying to strike a deal to bring Andy Carroll back from Liverpool.
Our friend the Daily Mail says that a top agent rang Newcastle to offer them Carroll for just £20m, which we refused, and then the agent came back and offered him for £15m plus add-ons (whatever they may be), which again was refused by Newcastle. The Mail goes on to suggest that Newcastle are prepared to offer £10m for the player – substantially more than Derek Llambias’s previous estimate that he’s worth “eff all” – as long as Carroll takes a substantial cut in his £90k/week salary.
Carroll has only managed 6 goals in his 31 appearances for Liverpool since his £35m move a year ago in contrast to the 11 he scored for us in 20 games in the half season before we sold him. He has had to content himself with coming on as a substitute for Liverpool more often than getting a place in the starting XI.
As far as I can tell there’s nothing beyond newspaper gossip on this yet – no quotes or anything – but it is pretty clear that Andy Carroll hasn’t really had the best of times at Liverpool and may be somewhat unsettled there. So, whilst I always urge caution about speculative press stories, it does actually make a certain amount of sense.
Apparently we have also revived our interest in PSG’s Mevlüt Erdinç who, the newspapers suggest, could be available for as little as £5m.
Given that PSG are now Richie Largeportions thanks to their Qatari backers, they certainly don’t need to sell Erdinç for financial reasons, but he is said to be ‘unsettled’ in Paris and may be considered surplus to requirements alongside the likes of Gameiro and Hoarau.
All this is, of course, on the back of reports that suggest we’re not actually interested in a striker this January. Perhaps it’s the same situation as when my wife goes shopping: she may go out to buy a mop and a bucket but you can bet that if she sees a dress and some shoes ‘on sale’ they’ll be bought too, even though she had no particular aim to buy them before going out shopping. That happens with shoes in particular – with the amount of pairs she has, I’m worried they’ll collapse under their own gravity and create a small black hole in the understairs cupboard.
I would suggest that we do need a striker, although whether Carroll and Erdinç are the ideal candidates remains to be seen.
But what sort of reception would Andy Carroll get if he returned to Newcastle? Some fans believe he was forced out in the first place anyway, whereas others see it as largely being his decision to move and have cast him as a ‘Judas’ as a result.
What do you think?
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
I would welcome him back. We all make mistakes. I would insist that in his contract he has to lose weight, quit drinking and get a hair cut!
I would love for him to come good for us and liverpool want to buy him again lol!
Yes Ed women and shoes a true enigma! A bit like NUFC!