Alan Pardew believed that Liverpool would never agree to part with £35 million to acquire Andy Carroll.
The striker was sold to the Reds on Deadline Day in January 2011 by the former Newcastle manager, who led the team from 2010 to 2014, for a record amount for a British football player.
Carroll was a bust at Anfield despite the high expectations that were placed on the former England international. After just two years on Merseyside, he was sold to West Ham for £15 million, having scored just 11 goals in 58 games.
In an interview, Pardew, 62, discussed the deal that broke records at the time and said that selling Carroll was the “worst” management move he had ever made. He stated on the talkSPORT BET-sponsored January Transfer Window Show: “I lost Jermain Defoe at West Ham and Andy Carroll and Demba Ba [at Newcastle].”
Andy Carroll was the worst because, on the penultimate day, which I believe was a Monday, I was flying up from London after visiting my family back home. Derek Llambias called me as I was about to board the plane to let me know that the bid was approaching £30 million and that we might seal the purchase when you got off the other end.
Carroll had scored 11 goals in 19 league games before January, so Pardew raised the stakes by pressing former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish for more money, even though he still stated he didn’t want to transfer Carroll.
As the rational person that I am and a football manager, I determined that the little gin and tonic I had on the plane wasn’t enough because I didn’t want to sell him,” Pardew continued.
“I think if you get £35m then there’s a discussion,” I told Derek over the phone after I got off the other end, believing there was no way Kenny Dalglish would spend that much money on Andy Carroll. Dalglish called Carroll’s bluff since the Magpies were in desperate need of a striker after Carroll signed a contract with Liverpool on January 31.
“I had fun popping around and going to training.” We were all taken aback when the bid of £35 million was made. We were severely hampered by the British transfer record at the time, which was a major issue for us.
Newcastle recruited Shefki Kuqi for the remainder of the season since they had no other options. The team finished 12th in the league despite the Finnish striker making just six appearances and failing to score.
