West Ham see off late Arsenal bid for frontman
It’s being reported that Arsenal made a shock last gasp effort to snatch Andy Carroll from under West Ham’s noses.
Assuming that this story is true, and given that it’s in the Daily Star I’ve no reason to think otherwise, it’s a fairly remarkable revelation.
After spending last season on loan at Upton Park, Carroll was widely expected to make the move from Liverpool permanent.
A deal, which for sensationalist purposes only is incorporating his wages and being reported in the paper as £60m, (this isn’t a trend I approve of or would like to see rolled out by other media outlets) was apparently struck a few weeks ago and the delay that followed was a result of Carroll deciding if he wanted to make the move.
Now with the news that Arsene Wenger wanted a little piece of him coming to light, could it have been that the lanky England man too had heard the whispers and was waiting to see if something better came along.
It is fairly mystifying as to why Wenger would want Carroll, no disrespect to the Gateshead born striker but you wouldn’t imagine him as being the first choice for a manager with Wenger’s tastes.
The story actually says that Arsenal decided to “back away” upon hearing the staggering sums involved in the transfer, I find this hard to believe given the £500billion or whatever the latest figure is burning a hole in Arsene’s pocket.
If Arsenal were interested, and like I said I don’t doubt the validity of the story for one second, then you wonder why they would want Carroll when they already have Olivier Giroud.
The 6ft 4in Frenchman may be slightly more cultured (I’m talking football terms solely) than the former Newcastle man but the two would seem to serve the same purpose, you couldn’t imagine them as a front two for instance.
Could it be that Arsenal’s tradition for buying identikit players is to be resumed by Wenger and he has moved on to the forward line?
The policy commenced under George Graham when he began accumulating ugly, uncompromising centre-halves, Adams, Bould, Linighan, Keown.
Wenger continued the tradition with tippy-tappy, miniscule, waif like midfielders who regardless of the gravity of a situation were unwilling to shoot at goal.
If he has, as it now appears moved onto the front line then expect bids for the likes of Mario Gomez, Peter Crouch and Nikola Zigic to follow.
Allen Whyte
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