3 January signings who failed to live up to the expectations

#2 Andy Carroll (Newcastle to Liverpool, £35m)

Andy Caroll

Liverpool signed Andy Carroll from Newcastle during the 2011 January transfer window. The deal was a surprise to many, especially Newcastle fans. The amount paid for the English striker was a club record fee at the time, which showed the kind of faith the Liverpool management had in the player.

Carroll, aged 22 at the time, had scored 14 goals in 33 Premier League appearances for Newcastle. The statistics were promising for a striker of his age.

Liverpool thought Carroll would perform even better at Merseyside. They hoped that he would develop into a lethal forward, but that was not to be.

Carroll struggled at Liverpool and faced stiff competition from Luis Suarez, who had also joined the club during the same transfer period. Carroll spent two years at Liverpool where he only managed to score 6 goals in 44 Premier League appearances.

He was loaned to West Ham in 2013, a club that would later sign him on a permanent basis.