Hammers set to become all round Carroll loser
And if so, the Irons will have emerged as an all round loser on the Geordie coveted by Sam Allardyce and brought to the club at the time on what WERE mega wages.
The Irons are ready to let the striker go but after paying £17 million in a transfer fee plus agents fees etc, and paying him a wage at in excess of £80k a week, they accept that they have problems in all directions.
He has played just 40 games in two seasons for 10 goals and were his name not a household name, the club would be struggling to get more than £8m – £10 million.
With just a season left, even were a club to come in, they are unlikely to pay the the sort of wages he currently commands even were they to accept the fee.
As a result, from a purely pragmatic point of view the striker could sit tight and negotiate better personal terms as a result of being on a free next summer when clubs would be far more interested in a free transfer.
And that would mean after spending a total of around £35 million over five years on transfer fee and wages, the deal may have been the worst ever with him able to leave without the club recovering a penny!
A Carroll miracle would be handy right now.