West Ham are face a dilemma in deciding whether they should exercise the two year option they hold on Andy Carroll’s contract in the summer.For ClaretandHugh has discovered that should they do so they will have to keep him on the same money he has been earning over the duration of his current contract plus any additional rise in the Retail Price Index.
Carroll is on a wage of £85k and a highly placed source in the club, who is in regular contact with us via telephone, has made it clear that is the case.
He said: “When the option is in favour of the club you have to offer the same wage or more plus any rise in the RPI and that can present a problem in certain cases.”
That is certainly true of the Carroll situation with the player’s horrendous injury issues causing the club to think seriously about which way they should go.
The striker is ready to return to action after the international break and faces six months which could be career defining as he bids to show he is either worthy of a new deal or attract offers from other clubs.
Either way he needs to show his very best form and score goals if he is to have serious chances of either possibility becoming a reality having not kicked a ball so far this season.
But even were he to return at the top of his form it would still remain a problem for West Ham who could justifiably remain concerned about his fragile fitness over the next two years.
He is always going to have injuries and play between 10 and 25% of a season, if you think it is worth it based on that to keep him on then execute the extension if not let him go. Personally I think in the games he plays against an opposition like Man City or Liverpool we should adopt a strategy of playing it long, bypassing their press and trying to win the second ball off him, the way MP sets us up we could do that, we should also look to win corners against them where they have a lot of short players we can overpower them with accurate set play deliveries.
I can see now way extending Carroll’s contract for two more years can be defended, I do not feel he fits the way we play now, in the last season he was fit? it was clear how slow he has gone, 33 League goals that he has delivered since 2012 is not a top striker, we can find better.
What would be the odds of him picking up another injury, sidelining him for months? I’d say over 60% and in that case we should be cutting our losses and allow him to move on. The only question for me is how we get a good price. He needs to play again to demonstrate to potential buyers that he’s still got it, but that risks another injury. A tough call, but a two year contract? I think that would be a mistake.
It’s a real shame he is such a china doll he is an amazing old style centre forward. Unplayable on and ‘off’ the pitch if you get my drift. Sadly we now have another potential sick note in Wilshire and I personally I can’t really see how the club can seriously consider the expense of keeping him on the treatment table. At allegedly being paid £86k a week surely we must consider paying Rice Diangana and even young Silva more money to ensure their services for our and their futures.
Sign him up it’s a no brainer. If he wasn’t injured so much we would never be able to afford a player of his quality. I’d sooner get rid of chicherito on 130k. Theyll probably both spend as much time as each other on the pitch.