Andy Carroll: The right man for the job at Chelsea?

The 2017 winter transfer window has recently burst into life with several high profile moves likely to take place all across the English top-flight.

 

Alexis Sanchez is seemingly on the verge of joining Manchester United. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could potentially be heading down to North London in exchange for the Chilean international, with none other than former Borussia Dortmund teammate, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, also waiting to make his mark at the Emirates.

 

How can the club genuinely believe Hazard will sign a new deal when we are signing players like Andy Carroll?

— Uber Chelsea FC (@UberChelseaFC_) January 16, 2018

 

Perhaps one of the most surprising rumours to have surfaced in recent weeks surrounds West Ham’s Andy Carroll, who has reportedly attracted a great deal of interest from Antonio Conte’s Chelsea over the current winter transfer period.

 

Could the current Premier League title holders really find themselves eyeing up the former England international as deadline-day approaches? Or will this particular transfer story ultimately amount to little more than pure speculation and conjecture?

 

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It has been said hundreds of times before by all manner of experts and fans within the English footballing community, but Andy Carroll remains one of the very best traditional target-men in the business when operating on his day.

 

It’s just that his day has sadly failed to come around often enough for West Ham United, ever since the Hammers sought to spend close to £17 million on the English striker’s services in the summer of 2013.

 

Carroll has suffered injury after injury throughout his time in the nation’s capital. Representing one of his club’s highest weekly earners at this particular stage in his career, West Ham have often questioned the validity of maintaining such an injury-prone player at their club.

 

Jose Mourinho is so in Antonio Conte’s head he thinks it’s a good idea to sign Andy Carroll.

— Adam (@AdamJoseph____) January 16, 2018

 

This is what makes Chelsea’s reported interest all the more captivating. If Andy Carroll can scarcely make David Moyes’ West Ham starting XI on a week-in-week-out basis, what hope has he got of ever effectively establishing himself at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea?

 

As the current West Ham United hierarchy are supposedly slapping an absurd £35 million price-tag on the striker’s head this winter, Chelsea would seemingly have to prove somewhat mad to ever consider such an agreement, or failing that, somewhat desperate for someone to bang the goals in between now and the end of the season.

 

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That said, there are ultimately few likeminded alternatives who can frequently replicate Carroll’s favoured skill-set. Aerially he is often untouchable, whilst his ability to find the back of the net in crucial scenarios has always proven somewhat worthwhile.

 

The current West Ham no. 9 represents something of a throw-back option, it’s true, but when it comes to dominating his opposing back-line and often making minced-meat out of the many highly rated centre-backs in his path, few have ever sought to captivate the English top-flight with such confidence or tenacity.

 

For this reason alone, Andy Carroll could theoretically thrive at Stamford Bridge where Alvaro Morata has partially failed to set the club alight. Whilst his technique does not compare with what Chelsea’s Spanish counterpart has to offer, Carroll is perhaps more of a match-winner among certain performances – something the Blues arguably require right about now.

 

Carroll deal looks to be definitely off. So we’re stuck with an injured, careless Andy Carroll.

— Uber West Ham (@UberWestHam) January 18, 2018

 

Andy Carroll has recently paid witness to yet another upcoming injury lay-off midway through the current domestic campaign, a notion that will likely place too much distance between himself and that proposed move to Chelsea, despite West Ham’s reported desire to acquire Michy Batshuayi from the Blues in the process.

 

The striker’s value at West Ham remains something of a frustrating conundrum, for whilst no team can really afford to carry such a highly paid individual for large spells of the season, Carroll represents a special kind of player – one we rarely see among the modern era.

 

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Although some fans may be keen to let him leave the London Stadium at the first available opportunity, this is one striker who could do a job for almost any side currently operating among the Premier League.

 

From West Ham in the midst of their ongoing relegation dog-fight, all the way up to Chelsea, in their attempts to reclaim their former dominance among the upper echelons of the English top-flight, Andy Carroll is seemingly highlighted as an undoubtedly effective front-man with bags of goals to offer.

 

It’s just a shame so many injuries have sadly stood in his way all those years…

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