Liverpool record signing told teammate he 'didn't want to leave Newcastle'

Liverpool has made a habit of raiding Newcastle for its strikers, but one player who became the Reds' record signing admitted to one of his former teammates he didn't want to go to Anfield

Andy Carroll joined Liverpool in January 2011(Image: GLYN KIRK, AFP via Getty Images)

Kevin Nolan has disclosed that Andy Carroll was hesitant to finalize his record transfer to Liverpool.

The 37-year-old - who currently plays for National League South side Dagenham and Redbridge - came through the academy at Newcastle United and made his mark in the Premier League during the first half of the 2010/11 season.

After scoring 11 goals in 19 matches, the former England striker caught the attention of the Reds, who agreed a then-club record fee of £35 million (around $46M) to bring him to Merseyside. Prior to travelling to Anfield for his medical, Carroll visited his then-Magpies team-mate Nolan, with the former Newcastle captain revealing that Carroll was unwilling to leave St James' Park.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, the ex-West Ham skipper explained that Carroll dreamed of becoming a legend at his boyhood club and wearing the famous No.9 shirt, emulating Alan Shearer, reports Chronicle Live.

Nolan said: "He [Carroll] didn't want to go, he didn't want to leave. They [Newcastle] were just like, 'No, we've got £35M'. I remember sitting with him, he'd come to my house. Everyone was looking for him and he kept getting calls. I was talking to him, it was like £29M... £31M, and I'm like, 'What, for him?'

"We had a really good six months. We'd been good [together] in the Premier League, terrorized a few and we were getting a nice little partnership. It was taken away... And we had a good squad. With Andy, he was leaving mine to go and get on the helicopter [to Liverpool].

Andy Carroll joined Liverpool from Newcastle United in January 2011(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

"He said 'I don't want to go'. He was a Newcastle lad and wanted to be a Newcastle legend, to wear the Newcastle No.9 for years." The 43-year-old highlighted how the lack of a familiar support structure in Merseyside contributed to his difficulties at Anfield, where he managed just 11 goals across 58 matches before his 2012 departure to West Ham.

Nolan continued: "Obviously, the scrutiny of the £35m, going to Liverpool, different mentality, not being around your family and friends and everything else... It was difficult for him. He moved with his then girlfriend and I think he found that difficult.

"The transition of being there [Liverpool] and not having the support system that he would have had in Newcastle." Carroll, who made a poignant return to Newcastle in 2019, had previously opened up about his Liverpool spell, recognizing that the experience proved crucial for his development.

In a 2019 interview with The Mail, the Gateshead-born forward revealed: "I was injured at the time and all I'm thinking is, 'Please, just fail the medical'. The minute I got on that helicopter I wanted to come back. I knew it had to happen. Whatever age, I needed to walk back on that pitch and play for Newcastle again.

"I remember leaving here [Newcastle's training ground] in Kevin Nolan's car because loads of people were outside. We went to his house and watched it on TV. I was like, 'I'm not going'. I'd just bought a house and a cat the day before! But then I was told, 'You're going' and that was that.

"I would have rather stayed at the time and all the way to the helicopter I'm thinking, 'What is happening? What am I doing?'. But looking back, and how it shaped me as a player and a person, I would honestly still do it. I probably needed to get out of the city to grow up."