ANDY CARROLL – NEWCASTLE TO LIVERPOOL, £35 million (WINTER 2011)
One-half of the Torres-Carroll transfer saga that dominated much of the 2011-2011 season, Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool in January of 2011 certainly caught the headlines.
Joining Liverpool for £35 million on the same day that Spanish striker Fernando Torres departed for Premier League rivals Chelsea for £50 million, Carroll was meant to pick up exactly where Torres had left off at the Merseyside club.
Unfortunately, the only thing that Carroll inherited from Torres was his lack of fortune with injuries, with the six-foot-four-inch striker making only 58 appearances for the club in his three seasons – scoring 11 goals in the process.
Frequently heralded as a shining example of a last-minute panic buy, Carroll has since moved from Liverpool to West Ham, where injuries have continued to dominate his career – limiting him to just 91 appearances in the past four seasons.