It would be one of the most sensational moves in Premier League history, but various media outlets in England are reporting that Newcastle United have approached Liverpool about bringing Andy Carroll back to Tyneside on a season-long loan, with an option to buy the England striker next summer.
Liverpool have initially refused to consider Newcastle’s initial attempt to sign Carroll on a season-long loan.
It was only 18 months or so ago that Newcastle sold Carroll to Liverpool for £35million, but amid speculation that Carroll is not part of manager Brendan Rodgers’ long-term plans, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew mad his move after it emerged last week that Rodgers might be prepared to allow Carroll to leave Anfield.
The move is all the more surprising that Newcastle seem pretty strong up-front with Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands.
But Carroll is a local boy, and his sale to Liverpool sparked a furious reaction in the north-east when he was sold to Liverpool. when a man around whom it seemed likely the team would be assembled was allowed to leave.
At the time of the sale, Carroll had barely half a season of top-flight football under his belt, but 11 goals to add to the 19 he had scored in the Championship a season earlier had marked him out as an emerging talent.
Unfortunately it never really worked for Carroll at Anfield, and with every mistake and miss, the £35million transfer fee was thrown back in his face.
It wasn’t until the end of last season that Liverpool fans finally saw the real Andy Carroll and he carried that form over to the Euros, where he was one of few England players to emerge from Euro 2012 with any credit after scoring a superb headed goal against Sweden.
