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Following close on the heels of the aftermath from the sacking of Newcastle United boss, Hughton, comes another media storm for the Northern club. After several weeks insisting that Andy Carroll was under no circumstances for sale, Monday night duly saw the deal done – the Geordie born and bred player signed with 7th placed Liverpool. Personally, I found it unlikely that a man like Mike Ashley, Newcastle United’s owner, could (or more aptly, would) turn down a £35m deal for a promising but unproven footballer.
Are we surprised? No, probably not. Loyalty is not something that runs deep in football. Having said that; with better opportunities and a more substantial pay packet there are few people who would turn down a move.
Liverpool FC managed to turn their PR disaster into a media success story, whilst losing one of their best players in Torres they gained Dutch footballer of the Year, Suarez, and promising striker Carroll. However, Newcastle United has a bigger battle on their hands. The saga around the obscene amount of money for an injured 22 year old who’s played top flight football for a matter of months may be simmering but the feud between Carroll and his old club is bubbling. Whilst the player, who has only scored 34 professional goals (not sure he’s worth £1million per goal), insists he was forced to hand in a transfer request, his ex-manager Pardew has now issued a statement to say Carroll walked due to his contract not being improved – we can only assume this means financially
Is this tale on route to turning into a PR disaster for Newcastle? Whilst I have no doubt that Carroll is most likely more focused on money than feeling “unwanted by [his] home club”, it would also be hard to imagine that Mike Ashley having seen the potential available sum, didn’t force Carroll’s hand. Will we ever find out? If we do, it will have some form of damaging effect on Ashley’s position in football… If it’s possible to damage Mike Ashley’s image any further.
Related articles
- Andy Carroll was not forced to leave Newcastle says Alan Pardew, who also questions player’s motives (telegraph.co.uk)
