I honestly think this was a cheeky loan bid which has been blown out of proportion. Liverpool would have been the ones who initially leaked this to the press. We countered by confirming the bid to unsettle Andy. We would all like to see big Andy back. However it should defiantly not be for the inflated price created by Liverpool's error in judgement. A fair amount in my honest opinion is 5-7 million with additional payments paid for goals scored, appearances and league position. The overall transfer amount should aim to be around 8-10 million pounds, maximum. My reasoning for this is that it was obvious we are in the market for a striker. It appears that DeJong was at the top of that list. My take is that he was about 3rd on a list of 5 not including Carroll. We offered 12 million, and most likely a 4-5 yr contract at 35-40k with bonuses and a wage increase on games played. This is what we deemed as the maximum amount we were willing to pay for the guy at the top of our list. Assuming Carroll will be looking for at least 50k-60k over a five year period.
DeJong: 12m transfer + 10m contract (5yrs, 40,000p/w) + 2m agent fees = 24m over 5 years
Carroll: 8.5m transfer + 13m contract (5yrs, 50,000p/w) + 2.5m agent fees = 24m over 5 years
Purely looking at the figures (as described by Pardew later), even at that the lower end of the spectrum it seems like a poor deal before additional payments are factored in. I know my figures are very pie in the sky however I have tried to be as realistic as I feel possible. I do think Carroll will take a home town pay cut but it will be for a longer term perhaps.
But ask yourself what did we pay to get our "world class striker" from Germany? Our "Carroll replacement".
Cisse: 8m transfer + 14.3 contract (5.5 yrs x 50,000) + 1m agent fees = 24.3 over 5.5 years
Is Andy Carroll really as good as Cisse, furthermore is Carroll worth as much as Cisse? I know we bought him at a discount rate and he has truly excelled in this league. But the proposed commitment that is being bandied about is scary.
Sure worst come to worst we would receive the 8 million pound fee for Carroll to Wham or Stoke (Good luck him accepting the contract this time however). But I honestly think we are missing a trick. If we have circa 24 million to spend on one player (contract, transfer, agent) we should be looking for another, more flexible target.
Even if we signed Carroll, gave him his number 9, set our team tactics to suit his strengths and gave him all the confidence in the world. We MAY have a long term "world class" player. But no-one will be silly enough to ever pay 15m+ for Andy Carroll (except for a sugar-daddy club). Just because Andy is now considered "world class" would we realistically have a "world class" team supporting him and winning trophie(s)? I realistically doubt it.
If we were to take Carroll back it would purely be an attempt to either get a world class player on the cheap or to resell him for what would be considered the biggest scam since the Ponzi scheme during the global financial crisis. As a club we should be thinking how can we most easily and furthermore most cost effectively win football games and furthermore trophies. Signing Andy Carroll for the amount of money speculated is everything against what our club has strived to achieve since relegation. By resigning Krul, Jonas and Colo I truly sensed a successful chapter in the club had finally started again. By signing Carroll I think we may be setting ourselves up to fail.
Most people in this thread are being romantic and I appreciate that, in fact I admire it; it is half the reason why I love this club too. I will be joyful to see Carroll play for the toon again no matter the price, as at the end of the day I am not paying for him. But the amount of money people are expecting to pay for him is bonkers and I do not believe for one minute Mike Ashley will be conned to attempt another purely romantic gesture with this club.
The speculation that is occurring should be centred on what the club is willing to sacrifice to get Andy back home. Not just in terms of financial details but as to style of play, overall success, adjustability of the club and future ambitions. This one transfer target is not based on the old skill/talent, price/wage argument. It has both very real overarching tangible and intangible outcomes, not just for this season but for the general short term future of the club.
Pardew has detached himself from the bid in my opinion for two reasons,
Firstly Pardew is trying to distance himself from throwing in low-ball bids to clubs for players to unsettle them. Put simply if you are the "face" of the football club you would chose not to negatively disrupt your persona. Mike and Dekka are perceived in the footballing world as
Pardew in comparison looks like he is fighting the good fight compared to those two. It is my opinion a determining factor of why he won Manager of the Year award. Sure he was the most deserving but these two helped his cause.
The Second reason, is strengthened by the first quote and summed up in the final exert and can be translated as follows, "Andy is on our list of striking targets. I am not making the final decision as all the names are of comparative quality. The decision will be made through evaluating the various financial factors of each player."
This will not be a decision made due to romantic influences, mark my words if we do sign Andy Carroll, we will have fleeced Liverpool for as much if not more than what we did in the first place.
Happy hunting mike and dekka.
