West Ham make official Carroll bid

While the main media focus has been on Newcastle’s attempts to lure Andy Carroll away from Anfield, it now appears as though there is another interested party. It is widely understood that West Ham have officially joined the race to sign the England international, with the Hammers said to have offered £17m for the striker.

The Upton Park outfit have been reported suitors of the player for the past few weeks, yet nobody really took their interest seriously considering the high profile bids from Newcastle. However, it now looks as though Anfield chiefs will seriously consider this approach, having rejected an offer said to be worth £10m from the Magpies last week. It is thought that this bid from West Ham exceeds £17m – meaning that it would not be too far from the supposed £20m valuation that the Reds have put on Carroll.

Just like Newcastle’s offer, it’s understood that West Ham want to take the 22-year-old on loan first, before making the transfer permanent next summer. However, even if Liverpool do deem the deal to be acceptable, Carroll himself is going to need some convincing as reports are suggesting that he holds little interest in a move to Upton Park. Instead, he would much prefer a return to Newcastle, although it still remains to be seen whether Alan Pardew’s side will come back with an increased bid.

It does appear as though the Hammers are putting some serious work in making this transfer occur. With the club’s current transfer record standing at £7.5m, a potential deal for Carroll would absolutely blow this out of the water. Already, Jack Sullivan, the son of the West Ham chairman, has expressed his excitement about the transfer on Twitter. He said, “Dad is working on the biggest signing in the history of the club – twice as big as anything the club have done before!”

However, despite the optimism from West Ham, it will still take a lot of work before this transfer can come to fruition.