Andy Carroll is on the move again, provoking memories of his controversial Newcastle United transfer
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Andy Carroll signed for £35m when leaving Newcastle for Liverpool
Andy Carroll signed for £35m when leaving Newcastle for Liverpool
(Image: Getty)
Andy Carroll's departure from Bordeaux this week was accompanied by an emotional statement from the French club. It was world's away from his first Newcastle United exit.
The Geordie striker is looking for another club after deciding to leave the French outfit to be closer to his family, who live in the south of England. Wherever he gets fixed up this summer, it will be the 11th club of his career.
None have close to his first transfer deal for drama, however.
Carroll drove to the club's Benton base on January 31, 2011 expecting a normal day of training. By the time he went to bed, he'd been whisked to Merseyside by helicopter after breaking a British transfer record to become a £35million man to sign for Liverpool.
Carroll's exit caused outrage on Tyneside and he was roundly booed when the clubs faced each other in the Premier League at Anfield later that year. But if the news had shocked the England international it also left then Toon manager Alan Pardew taken completely aback by events on deadline day nine years ago.
Then head coach John Carver told the Chronicle: "On the day he went Pards came to me and said at 1pm: 'Good news we aren't losing anybody.'
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"By 2pm it had changed and so had his demeanour - suddenly we were chasing for a replacement. We had three or four options on the table but we ended up with Shefki Kuqi the former Swansea striker on a freebie!
"He was a great lad in the dressing room but he was at the end of his career and didn't hit a barn door for us. Within hours we went from losing a £35million striker to having a free transfer at the end of his career."
At one stage on a frantic day at Benton there had been an more exciting name dangled in front of the management team.
Former Manchester United striker and Uruguay international Diego Forlan was pushing for a move from Atlético Madrid.
Carver took his mind back to an intense conversation as Newcastle looked to find a big-name replacement that would have softened the blow of losing the then local hero in Carroll.
Carver said: "We almost signed Diego Forlan. His fee was stupid at the time at £14million.
"He wasn't an out and out forward but may have excited some fans. The money and wages were outrageous - astronomical. It was quashed after that."
Yet Carroll's record-breaking sale may not have unfolded at all had Carver not blocked an attempt by the club's Academy to release him as a raw teenager.
Andy Carroll on NUFC's Under 18 team
Back then Carver had taken on the role as Academy director following the arrival of Graeme Souness and the departure of Sir Bobby Robson.
He said: "Andy Carroll was on the brink of being released for free at the Academy.
"When Souness came in I went down to the Academy. It was at the end of the season when he had to make decisions. We had all the staff in, Kenny Wharton, Peter Beardsley and Peter Kirkley.
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"We did it with every player, sign them or let them go? I asked everybody's opinion but I had the final say. Usually the majority will give a definite yes or a definite no. But with Andy Carroll, some people said no.
"I had the final decision and said he stays, he was 6ft 3in and had an unbelievable left foot. He'd been getting played at left-back and he was clearly a centre-forward. It cost us no money so I thought to take a chance. The rest is history, as they say."
Carroll went on to burst into the Newcastle side under Glenn Roeder. He made his first-team debut in November 2006 at the age of 17 years and 300 days in a 1–0 UEFA Cup win under Palermo but it wasn't until 2009 that he scored his first competitive goal.
He finished as the club's top goalscorer in the 2009/10 promotion season, learning his trade in the Championship, then after a stellar six months back in the top flight the Liverpool move came about.
His time at Anfield saw him struggle with injuries but he did win the League Cup in 2012. He joined West Ham in 2013 after a loan spell at the Hammers and stayed there for six years before sensationally returning to Newcastle on a free transfer under Steve Bruce.
He only scored one goal in his second spell at the club, though was a crowd favourite again for his all-action style. After leaving the club again in 2021, he signed short-term deals at Reading and West Brom before his pell in France, first with Amiens and then Bordeaux.
Now 36, the England international has pledged to try and keep playing until he is 40.
He said: "I’ve had proposals to play in Saudi Arabia but I was not interested… I’d love to continue playing every Saturday at least until I’m 40, whatever the level.
"My goal is to become a LeBron James, meaning playing on the same team as my eldest son, Lucas, who is 14.
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"It would be wonderful to experience that, in Bordeaux or elsewhere."