• England striker signs six-year contract
• Heel injury could delay start to season
Andy Carroll has become West Ham United’s record signing at £15m after he completed his medical examination at the east London club on Tuesday. West Ham’s co-owner, David Gold, revealed in a tweet that the England striker had “passed with flying colours”.
Carroll spent last season on loan from Liverpool but, with his parent club having made it clear they do not envisage a future with him in the side, he has opted for West Ham, where he enjoyed himself last time out and scored seven goals in 22 Premier League starts.
The 24-year-old has signed a six-year contract with the Hammers, which should make him a part of the team that enters the Olympic Stadium in 2016-17. He stands to be the figurehead for what the club hope will be an exciting era, the foundations of which were set down last season when they finished 10th on their return to the Premier League.
Carroll’s medical was thorough. He currently has a heel problem which he sustained at the end of last season and which may rule him out of the early weeks of next season but there were no hitches with the examination.
The England striker joined Liverpool from Newcastle United for £35m in January 2011 and has been left with regrets after being unable to establish himself at Anfield. But he will be keen to look forward, and to reprise his partnership with the winger Matt Jarvis who, at £11.5m from Wolverhampton Wanderers, is West Ham’s previous record signing. Kevin Nolan, the captain and attacking midfielder, also has a good understanding with his former Newcastle team-mate.
The manager, Sam Allardyce, has already signed a left-back, Razvan Rat, and a goalkeeper, Adrian, from Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Betis respectively, both on free transfers, and he hopes to bring in two or three more faces. He will look to add a striker in addition to Carroll following the release of Carlton Cole, and he has an interest in the free-agent midfielder Massimo Ambrosini who has parted company with Milan. It is unclear whether the midfielder Gary O’Neil, whose West Ham contract expires on 30 June, will stay at the club. He remains in negotiations over an extension.
