Memphis

I'm guessing it'll be Elmander in - maybe Sturridge on loan. Just a sad, sad day.

No, it increased his price substantially.

Current British record paid is 32.5m for Robinho.

Gonna hurt to watch him bang in goals for those fucks.

Transfer request = no loyalty payment from club.

Guardian rumour of Johan Elmander having late medical here.

No question Carroll wanted to stay, but: 1. Had his head turned by huge pay rise. 2. Sees that the club are willing to sell him.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/reds-agree-carroll-fee

On Liverpool's official site.

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but this all smacks of being orchestrated to make the club look tough for refusing to sell, but ultimately having its hand forced by a player who wants to leave.

This makes the most sense. My prediction - the bid will edge up and be accepted at or near 40m, but it won't be confirmed until very very late as we simply have to find something resembling a short-term replacement (Sturridge, perhaps) before making it official.

Holy shit.

From Caulkin: BREAKING: #NUFC have received improved bid from #lfc for Carroll which has been REJECTED.

What do we actually know at this point? 1. Liverpool have made an improved bid (thought to be 35m) for Andy Carroll. 2. Andy Carroll wants to stay at Newcastle. Everything else is speculation. He may go, he may not. But nothing is done.

Agree with all that this is the ultimate test of ambition. If we won't keep homegrown players that want to stay, what's the point?

I can't wait for our new signing GIANT PILE OF MONEY to start banging in the goals up front.

Carroll wants to stay. That's the big issue. He's not agitating for a move. And that's the confirmation that ultimately we are a selling club with limited ambition.

Lot of chatter now saying 35m is done.

This isn't FM. Finding international quality strikers at 21 who love playing for your club isn't easy at any price.

People have got to get a better sense of which Twitter accounts are real and which aren't. It's embarrassing.

Exactly. Not a real account. Come on people.

That's a bit harsh. Every player has a price, if we let Carroll go for upwards of £35m, we're not exactly a 'selling club' There's only one chairman in the league who would not think about doing a deal for that kind of money. The big differences here are: 1. This is a homegrown prospect. 2. He wants to stay. You'll find that in virtually every other case - Berbatov, Bent, Ronaldo, etc - where players went for stupid big money, one or both of these was not the case.

That's a bit harsh. Every player has a price, if we let Carroll go for upwards of £35m, we're not exactly a 'selling club' If the homegrown 21-year-old lad wants to stay, and is a huge, huge part of our team now and presumably in the future, to sell him at any price means we're a selling club. Unfortunate but true.

At this stage, it's about ambition. Do we have the ambition to turn down a sizable wedge for a HOMEGROWN player who crucially DOES NOT WANT TO GO? Or are we essentially a selling club?

Can only hope the lad stomps his feet and refuses to move at this stage. Of course he wouldn't since we've made it clear he has a price.