Andy Carroll will be left in limbo this summer as West Ham have decided not to offer him a permanent contract. The big hit man has been on loan at Boleyn Park this season after Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers made it clear he does not figure in his plans.
However, reports in the Sun suggest that the Hammers do not feel that Carroll’s contribution of three goals in 15 games justify a transfer fee of up to £17m and wages around £84,000 a week.
Sam Allardyce will target Southampton’s Rickie Lambert as a cheaper alternative to Carroll.
Headache for Liverpool board
West Ham’s decision will leave Liverpool’s board with a major headache. They will find it difficult to offload the player they paid Newcastle £35m for just over two years ago.
With Carroll still tied into to a long term contract at Anfield, most clubs will be unable to come up with the wages and transfer fee necessary to suit all parties.
Financial Fair Play to be introduced
It is not the first time we have seen this sort of scenario in the Premier League in recent seasons. Manchester City faced the same problem with both Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor. Both players were signed by Mark Hughes before he was dismissed, and immediately discarded by new manager Roberto Mancini.
With the financial fair play laws to be introduced to our game over the next few seasons, Premier League chairmen will certainly be wary of making these sorts of mistakes at their clubs.