What’s the story
England international Andy Carroll has revealed he was “shocked” when Liverpool made a bid for signing him and admitted that he had to Google some of his teammates' names prior to his move to Anfield.
The Merseyside club paid a then club-record fee of £35 million for bringing the striker from Newcastle United to Liverpool in January 2011. That record was broken by the Reds when they paid £36 million to Southampton for bringing Sadio Mane.
Carroll endured a poor run at Liverpool and he admitted that he told Jamie Redknapp that he failed to get a “grip” during his time in Merseyside.
"Jamie, when I was leaving Newcastle for Liverpool, I was in the helicopter on the way down and I had to go to Google to find out who their players were, looking at the phone," Carroll said during an interview with the Daily Mail.
"I was signing and I didn't know who my team-mates would be! I knew Stevie and some of the others, but not all of them. And I loved it at Newcastle. I wasn't ready to leave. It came as a shock. I'd had a season ticket, it was my club and it was a shock to move. I was 22. I could never get a grip at Liverpool."
In case you didn’t know...
Liverpool lost their star striker Fernando Torres who expressed his desire to leave the Reds in favour of a move to Chelsea. The Blues secured the services of the Spain international for a then English-record transfer fee of £50 million in January 2011.
The Merseysiders used the funds from Torres’ sale in bringing Carroll to Anfield. The former striker was influential during his time at Liverpool but Carroll struggled to replicate Torres’ goal scoring form.
Following the arrival of Brendan Rodgers in 2012, the Northern Irishman allowed Carroll join West Ham United on a season-long loan. Carroll, though, was a Liverpool player for two seasons, he wore the famous Reds jersey for only one season.
Heart of the matter
Carroll struggled to impress for Liverpool and his failure to replicate his Newcastle’s goalscoring form saw him being pushed out of the club. The 28-year-old admitted that he was delighted when the Hammers made his move permanent a year after he joined them on loan.
What next
Carroll has failed to impress at West Ham on a consistent basis as injuries have hindered his progress. Slaven Bilic will be hoping the former Newcastle man can shine for the Hammers, especially when they have lost a star player in Dimitri Payet this month.
Also Read: EPL 2016/17: 23 amazing stats going into Gameweek 23
Sportskeeda’s take
Carroll made a mistake by leaving Newcastle for Liverpool. He should have waited at least until the end of that season before making a decision on his future.
