No Contact Over Carroll?

WITH the arrival of Fabio Borini at Anfield expected to be confirmed by the weekend, speculation has continued at pace over the future of current Reds’ striker and record signing Andy Carroll.

The £35 million man has been singled out by the media as one player who may not fit into the Brendan Rodgers ‘Tiki-Taka’ evolution (not revolution) at Anfield and, as such, the 6ft 4″ striker has been consistently linked to a move away from the club over the last week or so.

Following comments from Silvio Berlusconi’s son who praised the big Geordie’s strength and aerial prowess, a possible if unlikely loan move to AC Milan was reported in the newspapers, with the Italian giants rumoured to have made an approach. Rodgers has denied that any such approach has occurred however, stating that there has been “no contact” between the clubs.

In the last 48 hours, The Telegraph in Britain, amongst other news outlets, has made claims that West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, formerly boss at Newcastle United of course, is interested in taking Carroll down south. The Telegraph had claimed that talks between the clubs had begun and that Liverpool were prepared to take a hit of £20 million by letting Carroll go for a fee in the region of £15 million. However they later reported that Liverpool were looking to secure a season long loan for the striker, after contacting several Premier League clubs including Newcastle, West Ham and Tottenham.

West Ham chairman, David Gold has today said publicly that, while the club may be interested in taking Carroll to Upton Park, should the player become available, there is currently no dialogue with Liverpool Football Club over the sale of Andy Carrroll. He told BBC Sport:

“I am not aware of any talks between ourselves or Liverpool over Andy Carroll. But that’s not to say we don’t have an interest should he become available.”

Many in the football press, including Ben Smith of the BBC, remain convinced that Brendan Rodgers will look to off-load Carroll as soon as possible and cite his perceived inability to fit into Rodgers’s system as the justification for this. I remain unconvinced. Brendan Rodgers has been known to employ a target-man style striker and incorporate him into the system, provided he is mobile and good in possession – Danny Graham for example.
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Carroll has these attributes and a lot more to boot. He is only 23 years old and, as he showed last season, is constantly improving. If you add the fact that Rodgers has inherited a relatively a small squad that is already very short on options up-front and that Liverpool are preparing to do battle on four fronts next term, it seems to me that Andy Carroll is likely to stay at Anfield for at least one more year.

Players will have to be sold on or let go in order for others to come in, however, it would seem much more sensible to begin that process of regeneration with other players; who are older and earn more, in other positions; where there is more cover.

You can catch Neil on Twitter @Neil1980 or on his blog http://itsallinthegameblog.wordpress.com/
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