Andy Carroll is now the most expensive English player ever. But is he worth the money?
It’s certainly on the steep side, but if you asked me, I’d say it’s not really crazy money that Liverpool has just spent.
That’s because thanks to the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea, the price of footballers has been going up consistently over the last few years. The market is as inflated as it’s ever been with more and more money being poured in by “generous” owners.
If you want to sign a top young player, it’s generally accepted that you’ll have to pay around 25 million pounds now. And if you want to sign a real top, top player like Ronaldo, Iniesta, Rooney, Ibrahimovic or Torres, it’ll have to be at least 50 million. That’s just he way it is now. I mean, Man City have been routinely signing players for around 25 million pounds!
When United signed players like Nani and Anderson, they cost a rumoured 17 million pounds each, and before them, Cristiano Ronaldo cost less than 13 million!
Secondly, you also have to bear in mind that Carroll was a desperate, last-minute buy in the January transfer window. Like so many managers have said in the past – it’s hard to find good value in January. Clubs just don’t want to lose their best players in mid-season, but if you insist, you’re gonna have to cough up the dough.
And Liverpool were desperate. They were lucky Lucas Leiva rose to the challenge of replacing Javier Mascherano so well (and even then his absence has been keenly felt), but they can’t possibly expect David Ngog to suddenly blossom into the next Torres, right? He needed to be replaced, and Newcastle had every right to demand that extra bit of cash.
Also, at 22, Andy Carroll is at a very good age. Paying 35 million for a player that can be the new focal point of your team for the next 10-15 years isn’t that bad.
I think generally, if you sign a player below 20, he’ll be a bit cheaper because there’s always that chance that he won’t fulfill his potential, and he might not be physically and mentally ready for regular first team action either.
But to bag someone at Carroll’s age, especially a player who’s already showed that he can handle the pressure of the Premier League, that’s gonna cost a little more.
A teenage Wayne Rooney cost 25 million pounds SEVEN years ago, so if you factor in inflation, and the fact that Carroll is at the stage of his career where he can walk in to a team and do a decent job (while Rooney was still a temperamental, immature kid when he was signed), again - 35 million pounds isn’t that crazy.
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I totally agree to statement above. Afterall signing Caroll and Suarez is indeed a good move. Especially knowing both players are young and they have alot of offer in next 10-15 years. These both are good and have different style of playing. Before we are solely depending on “selffish” Torres but now we have “2 great players”…so i think it is indeed a good signing.
Lastly, getting rid of Torres is indeed a smart move and selling him for 50M pound is fabulous as well. He going to be on bench very very soon.
Torres did seem to play a lot for himself recently. What a shame that his time at Liverpool would have to end this way. The fans deserve better.
But unfortunately, I think he will do very, very well at Chelsea. Ancelotti has done some good business. He has reinforced the two areas where it was needed most – central defense and attack. Drogba and Anelka are feeling the effects of age, and Terry is dogged by injury. Torres will walk straight into the team, and David Luiz will be fantastic back-up for Terry and Alex. Hopefully it’ll be too late for them to catch up in the league =P
If there ever was to be the worst transfer in the history of English football, this has to be it, surely.
1. Carroll only has half a season of premier league experience. It’s definitely too early to say “a player who’s already showed that he can handle the pressure of the Premier League”. There’s no saying how having been handed the title of “most expensive English player” will get to his head. There have been many cases in the past where a player performs superbly for the first half of the season only to lose form and fitness as the season continues.
2. Let’s not forget that while Carroll is not coming from a foreign league, he is coming from a different team. He’s used to playing with a 1 striker system with the Toon with Nolan supporting behind him. If Liverpool intend to play 2 strikers on the pitch (Carroll and Suarez), then he’ll have to adapt his game. There have been many cases in the past where a good player switches teams only to never fully adapt immediatly. Owen, Berbatov, Bentley, Ireland, Shevchenko are classic examples. The Toon team was also built around Carroll almost in the same way as the Liverpool team was built around Torres, would Kenny do the same thing?
3. Carroll’s off field antics are a probable distraction to his game. He is no Joey Barton, but we all saw what happened to Rooney’s form when news of him cheating broke out. Who knows what would happen to his game if news of him fighting with random blokes in the club kept propping up?
4. Liverpool spent 35m on a crocked player. Word is he’ll be out for many weeks, and even then injured players require time to get their scoring boots back on. If that was truly the case, Liverpool should have just waited till the summer where they could have possibly gotten him around the 20m mark.
Himmat: Maybe… Only time will tell. But my point is that in this day and age, considering what the market for footballers in the EPL are right now, AND the fact that Carroll was a desperate last-minute buy to replace Torres, I think 35 million pounds really isn’t that bad. Players of that quality and age (and nationality, considering how English players are mysteriously more costly than others) are regularly being traded for around 25 million pounds now. Bolton have refused to contemplate any deal below 30 million for Gary Cahill! As with any transfer, he might turn out to be a dud. But in terms of dollars and cents, it’s not exactly reckless spending, IMHO.
Gaza: Great points, especially that bit about him being relatively inexperienced in the EPL. With that England call-up and all the hype surrounding him, it’s easy to forget sometimes that he is, after all, an EPL rookie. I do agree that he is a bit of a gamble, but in the long run at least, I think he’ll come good:
1. Harry Redknapp revealed he made a sizeable bid for him, and Alex Ferguson has been singing his praises as well, so I don’t think there’s much doubt about his ability. His form might very well dip for the rest of the season, but in the long run, I think his talent and ability will come good.
2. Actually, I believe he will be playing in a similar system with Liverpool, as Suarez is not an out-and-out striker either (even though his goal-scoring record would suggest otherwise). He will probably play around Carroll in a more withdrawn position much like Nolan did at Newcastle. Nolan doesn’t play in the old midfield position he had when he was in Bolton. From what I’ve seen, he’s been playing as a second striker (and sometimes an all-out center-forward) at Newcastle, so I suspect it wouldn’t be too drastic a change for Carroll in that he’ll still be the big ol’ battering ram way up front.
3. Agreed. His off pitch antics are definitely a liability. His parting shot at Newcastle with those laughable claims about him being “forced out” proves as much. That will be something for Dalglish to work on.
4. The last time Liverpool got a crocked player, it was Alberto Aquilani, and that sure didn’t turn out well! But unlike Aquilani, Carroll’s injury isn’t a long-term one (Aquilani’s injury – an ankle problem, if I’m not mistaken – was a long-standing one). There was a bit of a scare that a thigh problem would leave him sidelined for about two months, but before he left Newcastle, Alan Pardew quashed that and said there was a chance he could’ve even made it for the Feb 2 game at Fulham.
And Dalglish really couldn’t wait until the summer for reinforcements. Suarez was brought in to bolster Liverpool’s attacking options so they wouldn’t rely so much on Torres. Dirk Kuyt can do a mighty fine job, but he’s not one of those goal-scorers who can guarantee you 20 goals a season, and the talented David Ngog is still inconsistent.
So when Torres then asked for a transfer, Dalglish had to act quickly. He wouldn’t be able to get 50 million for Torres in the summer, and there was no point keeping him around. So it made more sense to cash in on Torres and splurge on a young, eager and exciting new talent so they can at least challenge for a Europa League spot for the rest of the season.
Oooohhh, I just can’t avoid a good debate on all things Liverpool so here goes…
Yes, Carroll was bought while he was injured and so too was Aquilani. But, like Rafa Benitez and lately Kenny Dalglish mentioned, these players were bought with 5 years in mind and not just 5 weeks. That’s why clubs have medicals to make sure the players they buy aren’t perma-crocked (unless of course the player in question is Owen Hargreaves).
This might be a little known fact but as soon as Aquilani was playing again (albeit slightly later than expected), he turned out to be quite good. Earning himself a couple of MoTM awards and eventually ending the season as the second-highest assist provider in the league (for the second half of the season). Not bad for someone who’s largely seen as a failure in England.
If not for Christian Purslow’s and Roy Hodgson’s meddling, Liverpool would still have a quality midfield player in the squad who just happens to be doing well in Juventus at the moment.
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