Andy Carroll has discussed missing out on a lucrative fee following his move to Liverpool in January 2011.
Andy Carroll has claimed Newcastle United “had him over a barrel” when joining Liverpool in January 2010.
And doubling down on previous comments, the former Toon striker insisted he never wanted to leave the club. Liverpool stunned Newcastle with a £35million deadline-day move for Carroll 15 years ago.
Just a month early, the Gateshead native signed a lucrative five-year contract. He enjoyed a meteoric rise in the previous 18 months and had not long assumed the No.9 shirt.
However, all that came crashing down when the Reds broke the record for a British player to snatch Carroll from St James’ Park. It is safe to suggest that he failed to hit the same heights for the rest of his career.
‘Over a barrel’ - Andy Carroll
In his new autobiography, Owning It, Carroll has suggested Newcastle backed him into a corner to submit a transfer request. He later learned that doing so relinquished a lucrative percentage of the £35million fee.
"Newcastle had me over a barrel,” Carroll wrote. “I later learned that me putting in a transfer request meant that Newcastle got to keep 10 per cent of the £35million fee that otherwise would have gone to me.
"After landing in Liverpool, we went straight to Anfield, where I had my medical. I kept thinking, 'Please just fail this and you can go home.' But I passed with flying colours."
‘I wanted an everyday life’ - Andy Carroll
Carroll - now a player, assistant coach and co-owner at Dagenham & Redbridge - also opened up about always wanting to live a normal life. An extract reads: “I wanted to live an everyday life. Go out at weekends with friends and go on holiday with friends in the international break.
“Go to music festivals and have a few too many drinks and a kebab now and again. Make mistakes without appearing in the papers. You could argue trying to live a normal life is incompatible with being a majorly successful sports person. But there is no point spending the rest of my days wishing I had a different mindset.
“I’m sure I’ve had more fun than your average player. Soon enough I was spending time in bars, strip joints and casinos. If everyone wanted a tray of shots, I’d buy a tray of shots. A well known footballer spending time in local establishments was bound to attract trouble.”