The Soccer Blog: The Final Countdown, With More Rolling Updates

Monday 31 January 2011

The Final Countdown, With More Rolling Updates

By: Noel | January 31st, 2011
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Right, so we’ve got about six hours left in this window. Is everybody having fun?

The big news flying every which way is that after early reports Newcastle hadn’t been in touch with Liverpool over everybody’s second favourite felon (come back when you’ve been convicted of multiple assaults and we’ll talk about moving you up to top spot, son) at the club, everybody now thinks that Liverpool may very well be in for Andy Carroll to the tune of a whopping £30-35. Which is, you know, is kind of holy crap expensive. Though as Ed pointed out in the comments of the last thread, “it’s crazy money, but informed by the Torres debacle and likely driven by the fact that he’s young, British, and that Darren Bent was signed for crazy money as well.”

Which is completely true. Still, it’s a little off putting to think Liverpool might well pony up Llorente money (ie., the rumoured 40M Euros) for the player in question. But best British striker since Rooney, in a market driven upwards by the Citys and Madrids, and he’s British, and Bent isn’t as good as him, and he’s British, and Newcastle knows we’re playing with £50M or so with like six hours left in the bloody transfer window. And he’s British. And there’s six hours left in the window so if you want somebody, well, there you go, because value isn’t a consistent in football and there are a lot of factors at play here.

So hey, it’s all relative, right? And it’s not likely he probably wouldn’t be a good addition that might still leave enough to pay for a squad player or two to strengthen the overall, erm, strength of the squad. Still, absolutely nothing is confirmed yet, so who knows what will happen. For what it’s worth, The Liverpool Echo does think it’s happening, as does Tony Barrett, who claims Newcastle have not actually rejected the latest £35M bid but are instead just trying to find their own replacement. And both The Telegraph and the BBC think Torres to Chelsea is down to the sorting formalities stage.

Elsewhere, as mentioned by Ed previously, Daniel Ayala is off to Derby to get games and Konchesky is off to Forest to get him out of our hair. Not sure how Konchesky qualifies to play for Forest having already done so for two clubs this season, but presumably it’s down to it being a loan or that the team doesn’t play in the same level of the pyramid. God bless FIFA’s inane bureaucracy and endless sub-clauses, I guess.

Updates to follow.

Immediate Update: In news for the future news, Liverpool have signed 17-year old midfield prospect Conor Thomas from Coventry City on a loan that will be made permanent at the end of the season. One suspects that he will not walk into the first team.

Update: Ed says the official site has confirmation that Liverpool has met Newcastle’s asking price for Carroll, which means it’s pretty much going to happen and we’d best start finding the upside. Of course, the official site is overloaded and I can’t get into it, so maybe Ed’s just screwing with us. Elsewhere, Baldrick passes along that Sky passes along that Charlie Adam is on the way, and the various Twitterati seem to all say the same thing. Meanwhile Balague says that all that’s left for Torres is permission from LFC to take his medical with CFC. And then to take it. And sign various papers and shit.

Spiteful Update from Ed:

Reds agree Carroll fee - Liverpool FC_1296495953190

Things have slowed down a bit update from Noel: After initial reports that the Charlie Adam fee was as high as £14M, it turns out to apparently be “only” £8M. Which at least isn’t as bad as £14M. Also, Sky is reporting that both Carroll and Adam have arrived at Melwood and are currently undergoing their medicals, though everything on the Adam front appears to be a touch more speculative than the Carroll deal.

Video killed the radio stardate: Andy Carroll’s goals this year, since he’s a relative unknown to many (at least compared to his price tag). If and when match compilations pop up, I’ll pass them along. Though that will probably be in a later post. But anyhow…

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Transfermas Morning, Rolling Updates EditionAll the Torres That’s Fit to TorresLuis Suarez Joins LFCPaul Konchesky Looks SouthSquad Announced; Fernando Torres Has Been Paying Attention

Category: Premier League, Team News, Transfer News

Tags: Andy Carroll, Daniel Ayala, Fernando Torres, Paul Konchesky, Premier League, Team News, Transfer News, Transfer Rumors, Transfer Speculation, Transfers
Tweet « Transfermas Morning, Rolling Updates Edition | Home | JakePretty-boys (Torres/Babelcopter) out, hard-nosed, tough sonnuvagun kinda guys in..I approve.RhymenocerosAs an American, I think Bradley going to Villa is great...We need more Americans playing abroad (especially in England) to finally have a real competitive national team.RhymenocerosI agree with LFC...I think Carroll is going to do well. Ya we probably overpaid for him. But you know what, we are forgetting we got value on Saurez. How bout we flip the amounts on Saurez and Carroll...Suarez at 35mill and Carroll at 22...not so overpaid now?? Plus they both are young and have talent. The future is exciting...torres is the past. He did well for us and it hurts that he wants to go. But as king kenny has said, the only players we want are the ones who want to be here.BaldrickLike your style! I'm pretty excited at the prospect of the next few months but have concerns at the way The Game is heading with these massive transfer fees.RhymenocerosI could be off on the numbers exactly...but i think you get my point...LFCCOME ON YOU MOANING T*ATS CARROLL WILL BE GREAT WITH SUAREZ ADAMS PASSING AND THE MAIN MAN HIMSELF STEVEN GERRARD WE WILL BE A PROPER TEAM AGAIN A FEW MORE IN THE SUMMER AND SUSO COMING THROUGH HE IS LIKE A MINI MESSIChaseCould we get Newcastle Offside to write us a piece on Carroll? Cause right now I'm not really sure what to think of this whole deal. 35m seems like a lot to pay for a 22-year old striker with only half a year in the premier league, but then again, I've only seen him play against us and can't really attest to his true level of talent.JakeHis fists have proved he hates women, Carroll, carroll
He pins them down and sticks it in, Carroll! Carroll!
We broke the bank to get him here,
He and Suarez defenses will fear,
ANDY CARROLL LIVERPOOLS NUMBER NINE!!redtrev73Just been doing the sums and counting the beans and questioning the value and.....Jeeeez fellas...when was the last time we brought such an amount of high-profile players in at one fell swoop? 19fucking87, that's when. Barnesy, beardo, aldo and houghton came in and The King created the best team i've ever seen after the loss of the best striker in LFC history. Take off your accountant's hats and just....ENJOY. Kenny and Johnny H are bringing the ambition and the joy back to Anfield and i am one excited redman. Fuck knows we deserve a bit of fun ladies and gents. My advice? Grab a beer, whack on the flat screen and just savour a window which doesnt end in frustration. I'l be waving torres off and dreaming of how many goals, cups and probably red cards andy and luis will rack up!! Fuck the negativity redmen...now, about that beer....SignalflashI have to agree. I have a Torres jersey and I was very disappointed by the whole thing when it broke, but despite this news I feel that there is some hope that things will work out rather than when Hodgson was coach. As someone else said, a year ago the sale would have gone to cover debt, a month ago we'd have gotten Bobby Zamorra, but now we have Kenny and some decent players coming in. Tomkins has written a very good piece about the relative merits of having paid so much for Carroll.Chase FowlerCould we getbrotorres has gon it all over he has gon no more doubts debates it a dun deal it has now bin confirmed. wil i mis him? i mist him a long time ago coz he was not der a long time ago so now no not 1 bitPyrotime to rip torres' name from my liverpool jersey. that guy can go lose at chelsea, and he must be praying that he can make it back unto the national team set upJakeDid you read we made a bid for Micah Richards? What could that one be about?RoscoThat's the Torres' shirt burning begunbroeverbody its happend torres has gon carrol has arrived.justinAnyone finding it strange that Torres actually still wants to leave after seeing FSG make such statements?

In the overall outlook though, while Carrol might not be worth the tag at the moment, it could pay dividends in a couple years time, certainly brings to the team a different dimension it currently has and with the new and rumoured additions, the team's getting rather flexible as well rather than the predicatable Torres upfront and Gerrard in the hole behind couple seasons back.

It might be silly money now but it's exciting and when was the last time we ever had it anyway? Might as well enjoy it.

Nonetheless, the best signing we've made the entire season thus far has to be King Kenny.BaldrickTotally agree the man has breathed new life into the club, who'd have thought we'd be here this time last transfer window? Must admit I have reservations over the Carroll price but so do Chelski fans of Torres' fee......mad money! It's gonna be an interesting game next Sunday that's for sure.

Is anyone laying odds on Torres getting injured any time soon?

By the way Adam was last spotted in Blackpool reception an hour ago but apparently the mountain is now moving to Mohammed, no idea of a fee though. Probably best not to ask.broevery club in the world now knows were sweating over a striker. if we asked to buy hesky or some old shit player they will say 30 mil plus it an out rage clubs wil think day can take the piss out of us. compose ur self liverpool torees has bin shit all season and dun fuck al so were not going to miss him for the rest of it. so once more compose ur self show ur power not to be messed with and rather tell chelsey and torres to wait or dont waste a bargin 50 million on andy carrol. with no disrespect he is a good player worth arond 15 to 18 million. but not 35. show dem who is the bosssRed2deathThe question is why should we be sweating? As long as Henry/Dalglish say "no deal", then no one goes anywhere. End of story. Neither Chelsea nor Torres have the power to force their hand.broye true my point in a way. lets do wat alex did to roony. make him wait til the end of the seson den get 50 million were players r a bit cheeper coz more become avalible on the market. adam is headin this way regardles that was coming out of are own money well the owners money anyway. were not going to achive anythink splasing out 35 mil on andy carol coz were so far behind so lets run the seseon by den start splashing the cash but a lot more wisley with out shit lets fil a holeNoelSignal of intent, probably. I mean, Torres wants to go to an aging club that isn't going to win the League or in Europe this year? That's a big blow, and they're signaling to the football world that he's wrong. I mean, take the cost out of it, and even with Torres leaving, a window that sees Suarez, Carroll, and Adam arrive--along with possibly a left back and, as Dalglish hinted at, a center back--that's a massive, massive signal of their intent. They'll have just gone out in the bloody January window and just about rebuilt what Hicks and Gillett stripped from the squad side over their last 18 months.Red2deathWell, unless FSG have the power to keep this going...

Sorry, can't take the cost out of it knowing that we don't have endless pockets.

Suarez and Adam arriving would already signal strong intent, and that'd still leave us a very good war chest for the summer. For even more of a revolution, how about Ashley Young, Eden Hazard, Oxelade-Chamberlain, Fernando Llorente. All of those, possibly bar Llorente, would cost less than Andy Carroll.

My concern is that with this crazy spending in Jan, we can expect very little in summer. So, we hope that Suarez, Adam and Carroll can lead us to CL football again, because that's going to be the FSG revolution for now. These 3 players are what the new dawn at LFC is all about. I hope our rivals are shivering in their shoes now.JakeDo we know for sure that we don't have endless pockets?RoscoHell yeah. Couldn't have put it better myselfEdI think being privy to any of the in's and out's of how long they've been tracking anyone would better inform us as to whether or not they're actually panicking. Exorbitant amounts for both Carroll and Adam, but I'm inclined to wait for explanations that we'll never get.ChrisLFCI thought not much ever happened in the January window...??NoelIt's not supposed to. But latest (not soild at this point, treat with extreme skepticism) rumours now have Warnock arriving on loan and saying Liverpool will manage to also buy Young from Villa. Which is just beyond insane. And kinda makes me want to curse at Torres, but it would be while I was also laughing hysterically and not at all an angry cursing out.Dillonindgei think the fact that dalglish has only the rest of this season to impress and hes desperate to hold onto his head coach roll which i hope he does it will be no surprise to me and a bit of a worry that he may panic buy with the pressure of only 3 months to do well.there were no rumours to my knowledge that we had a big interest in carroll then all of a sudden 1 day left before transfer dead line and were willing to part with £35 mill or maybe even more .i would rather loan benzema pay his wages and maybe a small fee on top for now.if he dont do well we dont have to buy him at the end of the season.JakeBut you realize Henry has to approve the purchase, right? If he didn't either a) think Kenny was a very legit long-term option (and gosh I hope he does), or b) believe in Carroll's potential, regardless of manager, or BOTH, this purchase would not have gone through.JakeMy theory: Torres is acting on behalf of LFC. They view Chelsea as our realistic competition this year for 4th place, so Torres has been teasing them to prevent them from making any signings. Torres, Suarez AND Carroll line up versus Chelsea next Sunday at Stamford Bridge.BaldrickCharlie Adam in a car on his way to Melwood (Sky Sports)Dillon indgewere about to get some serious cash for torres and then waste most of it straight away to an over priced player.complete madness.we can do alot more with that cash surely.dont get me wrong carrol is a good young player with bags of improvement to come im sure but hes not worth that kind of money.seems to me like were trying to panic buy,not a good idea.we could get benzema on loan for rest of season and maybe buy him in the summer if he does well.ashely young were talkin £20 mill which would give us £15 mill change to strengthen elswhere for the price of carroll and in fact newcastle are probably going to want more than £35 mill especially with them knowing we have just recieved £50 mill for torres.dont do it dalglish its not good value at all.dont panic buy.save the money untill the summer where im sure we will be able to do so much more with that cash.we are unlikely to get champions league this season anyway so why rush into any huge buys.next season will be a huge season for us.just keep up the steady progress this season and we just might get a uafa spotEdCarroll fee agreed apparently...not sure if you want me to keep chiming if you'll be around, Noel?

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news...NoelUp to you completely. If you want to keep going for a few hours and then hand it off to me, or whatever. Or if you just have something to say about whatever latest developlemt develops. Just let me know if it's something bigger you're doing, but otherwise... shit'll sort itself out.RoscoWhat the fuck is happening here?
Rejected new offer
Accepted carrols transfer request.

Say whaaaaat??Red2death35m for Carroll is absolutely absurd. There'd better be unanimous confirmation from a jury of 10 gypsy fortune tellers and 10 astrologers that he'll become the next Alan Shearer (injury-free, mind you) - and then maybe we could consider that amount.

I don't see why Liverpool are panicking right now. At least it seems as though they are with all these crazy offers being made. Frankly, Torres is still under contract, so the club holds all the cards now. They just need to refuse to be pushed around.

To Chelsea: The going price has now been bumped up to 100m. Tell Roman to cough that up or come back in summer.

To Torres: We'll let you go in June. Till then, put on the shirt and play like a professional.Mjc8xThe thing with Andy Carroll is that his numbers are actually better than Torres. According to BBC:

"While we wait for more developments on the two strikers apparently leaving and arriving at Anfield for £50m and £35m respectively, let's compare Reds (and possibly soon to be Chelsea) frontman Fernando Torres and his apparent replacement, Newcastle's Andy Carroll. According to Opta, in the Premier League this season, Carroll has more goals than Torres (11 to nine), more assists (three to two) and the time lapse between goals is less (148 mins per goal compared to 211 mins per goal). The Newcastle striker's shooting accuracy is worse than Torres however, with 43% of his shots hitting the target compared to the Spaniard's 52%."Red2deathWe're comparing Carroll's most prominent season to Torres' worst season in living memory.

Also, we know that Torres is class. Class is permanent.

As for Carroll, he's not even flavour of the month... that'd be Charlie Adam.
Or hottest striker on form... that'd be Berbatov.
Or most coveted youngster... Oxelade-Chamberlain.

Seriously, I find nothing in Andy Carroll enough to justify anywhere near 35m.
He's young, he's British, and he's been decent this season - that's about it!NoelAnd there are six hours left in the window and everybody's dealing with us with the Torres money in mind, which would probably be the same situation in the summer.sillyseasonWe're not even comparing Carroll's best season..we're comparing his best HALF season. Seriously, no player who was a decent CHAMPIONSHIP striker a yr ago should warrant 35m, or even 25m. That is david villa, eto'o, berbatov money. Carroll is a glorified emile heskey.NoelWell, let's hope not, though you're right that it is a concern.blog comments powered by Disqus