With that Fernando Torres money burning a hole in their pocket before it even got there, Liverpool made Andy Carroll the most expensive British player ever, just three months after he signed a new-five year deal with Newcastle. So why did Carroll want to leave his beloved hometown club? Well, according to the texts he sent the editor of the Toon Talk fanzine as he completed the £35 million deal, he didn't.
From The Mirror (and the Independent):
In a series of texts as the clubs did the deal, he told fanzine editor Steve Wraith: “They have kind of said we don’t want u, but want me to say I wanna go. And I said I don’t wanna go.”
Asked what was going on, Carroll replied: “I don’t know mate. Gutted tho. They said they wanted the money. Gutted to be leaving my home club but I was practically told to go. Don’t want to leave. That’s why I signed five-year deal.”
It was reported that Carroll put in a transfer request on Monday, "forcing" Newcastle to sell him for that giant bag of money, but this is starting to look like a ploy to sell the move to devastated Newcastle fans as reviled club owner Mike Ashley pockets the dough. And that sounds mighty similar to how Sunderland had to sell Darren Bent when he put in his request so Aston Villa could give his former club a slightly less giant sack of cash. Either these clubs don't know how to say no to footballers or they want to cash in without the fans storming the boardroom. Granted, Carroll is getting a hefty raise in his wages out of all this, too.
And if that isn't bad enough, take a look at who graces the month of February in the official Newcastle United calendar...
Ouch.
UPDATE: To the surprise of no one, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is disputing Carroll's claim and says the player demanded another new contract (via the Telegraph):
“What can I say? We didn’t force anybody to leave,” Pardew said.
“I disagree with that point. He had a contract here for five years, and at some point it would get renewed, but for him to sign in October and it get renewed in January – where would it stop?
“Personally, I’m disappointed. He’s a lovely lad, and I really like him, but it was his decision, and you can’t change that.
“Was this about football? That’s what you have to ask. I don’t think it was.”
This is the Premier League, Alan. Very little of what goes on is about football.
“I went to see Andy, and face to face we had a conversation about him wanting a new contract, even though he signed on in October, and (he said) if he didn’t get that contract, he wanted go.
“I asked him what he wanted, and I went to the board. We had a discussion about what the ramifications would be for the whole club.
“We took the view, with him signing a contract in October, that this would cause us all sorts of problems.
“We decided that we needed the conversation confirmed, and he put in a transfer request, which he did.
“He spoke to his agent, and between them they put the request in. We decided with the size of the offer, and what it meant to us, that we would accept.”
Again, why doesn't anyone at the executive level of Premier League football clubs know the word "no"? It's not hard. You want another new contract three months after signing a new five-year deal or you'll leave? No. That's not going to happen. You're already under contract. No. Now cut your hair and put your boots on. No.
If any Premier League clubs want to hire me to just sit there and say "no" all day, I will. I guarantee I'll improve your club just by doing that. But I can't guarantee that I won't ask for a new contract every three months.
Top photo: LiverpoolFC.tv
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