Andy Carroll has revealed that he wished he had failed his medical ahead of his £35million move to Liverpool in 2011.
Carroll was snapped up by the Reds on January Deadline Day in 2011 after talisman Fernando Torres had been sold to Chelsea for £50m. Desperate for last-minute replacements, Kenny Dalglish signed Carroll and Anfield hero Luis Suarez just days apart, but the two men fared completely different on Merseyside.
The Geordie had taken the Premier League in his stride during the first half of the 2010/2011 season as he netted 11 times in 19 games by January for newly-promoted Newcastle United. Carroll’s form attracted the interest of Liverpool who eyed him as their replacement to Torres.
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But the switch went horrendously, as Carroll found himself out of his depth at Anfield and only managed to score 11 goals in 58 games in all competitions for Liverpool. He had to wait until April before scoring his first goal following the move that made him the most expensive British footballer at the time.
The Gateshead-born striker, now playing in Ligue 2 for Amiens, told L'Equipe that he wished he failed his medical before joining Liverpool, he said: “From the moment Liverpool made this incredible bid on deadline day, I found myself in a helicopter, without really understanding why. As I was injured, I remember hoping to fail my medical.”
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Carroll arrived at Anfield and was unable to make his debut until March, scoring his first goal over a month later against Manchester City in a 3-0 home rout. Reflecting back on the move, Carroll added: “This helped me grow up by taking me out of my comfort zone. Because I knew nothing about life and football, apart from Newcastle.”
The former England international would leave Anfield in the summer of 2012 to join West Ham United on an initial loan deal that was made permanent for £15m the following year. Carroll suffered greatly with injuries and returned to play for Newcastle in 2019 before two spells at Reading and a year at West Brom before winding up at Amiens in France this summer.
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