West Ham have agreed a fee with Liverpool for Andy Carroll but the England striker has yet to decide if he wants to join the Hammers permanently.
The London side will match Liverpool's asking price of around £15m, but the 24-year-old is unsure about the move ahead of a World Cup year.
It is understood interest from former club Newcastle United has cooled.
West Ham are expected to bid for Vitesse Arnhem's Wilfried Bony if Carroll rejects their approach.
The 24-year-old Ivory Coast international finished as31-goal top scorer in the Dutch league this season, but West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has made no secret about Carroll being his main summer target,
Carroll was signed by Kenny Dalglish and moved to Liverpool on transfer deadline day in January 2011, for what remains a record fee for a British player of £35m.
He had impressed by scoring 31 times for his boyhood club Newcastle United in 81 appearances, but his time at Anfield was short lived.
Coupled with the arrival of Brendan Rodgers and a new style of play, Carroll's return of just six goals in 44 outings for Liverpool saw him loaned to West Ham in late August 2012.
Despite a knee injury ruling him out for December,Carroll scored seven times for Allardyce's side during the season, form which encouraged the West Ham boss to pursue a permanent deal.
"If we can start with Andy Carroll, that would be a great achievement for us as he can only get better and better," he said after
West Ham's weekend win over Reading. "Then we build around that in terms of how we want to improve next year, with better quality.
"Andy is a player who is wanting to enjoy his football.He lives for his football and wants to play every game. He wants to use his strengths and score as many as he can - but he also works very hard for the team."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22618340 [ 此帖被barrin在2013-05-22 02:13重新編輯 ]
