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

 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].

"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."