West Ham crazy not to accept £32 million Andy Carroll deal

West Ham had the chance to sell Andy Carroll to China last month but rejected a potential £32 million deal for the striker.

West Ham striker Andy Carroll was the subject of serious interest from the Chinese Super League last month. A number of clubs were interested in the Englishman, with a potential £32 million deal on the table for the Hammers, according to the Telegraph.

Tianjin Quanjian, Hebei China Fortune and Shandong Luneng were all interested in the striker. One club in particular were willing to pay around £32 million for Carroll, but ultimately the Hammers were not interested in any deal.

Finding a replacement would have been impossible with the transfer window already closed in Europe. Although, with Carroll’s injury record, the club could easily lose 28-year-old at a moments notice anyway.

Carroll has been performing well for West Ham after initially missing much of the first half of this season through injury. Now back to full fitness, Carroll has scored four goals in his last four Premier League matches.

Still, West Ham should have taken this offer. The club are already on the lookout for a new first-choice striker, and have been since declaring as much last summer. So Carroll is clearly not seen as their main man moving forward.

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So to cash-in to the tune of £32 million, for a player they bought for around £17 million almost four years ago, would have been good business. The sale could have funded the club’s next number one striker.

As mentioned, Carroll has been playing well and scoring goals since returning. But if he’s not going to be your guy moving forward, then offers like this are tough to ignore. Anybody outside of a few key players should be accessible for these kinds of bids. They’re replaceable pieces, after all.

Plus, West Ham are almost safe for the season, too. It’s not like there are huge ongoing relegation concerns. Conversely, the club are not going to sneak into the top six, either, so the move would have made sense.

Carroll’s injury record means his value in Europe would take a hit compared to his overall ability. But apparently, that’s not the case in China. Despite Carroll missing much of this season and being injured for large chunks of past campaigns, his value remains high.

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In fact, it’s overinflated. Then again, aren’t all fees in the Chinese Super League right now? It’s a false economy that all clubs in Europe would be wise to take advantage of. West Ham had the chance to do that by selling Andy Carroll for a grossly inflated fee.

By rejecting the option, the Hammers made an error of judgement and missed out.

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