There is much to question about Chelsea’s transfer activity, but signing Andy Carroll would be the oddest move yet

There is much to question about Chelsea’s transfer activity, but signing Andy Carroll would be the oddest move yet

By bringing in Carroll the Blues would not be signing a Plan B, but a lesser version of their Plan A

IN a transfer culture that breeds rumour and counter-rumour, fake Twitter accounts and fictional Whatsapp users and uses the desperation of football supporters as its currency, it’s difficult to know what to believe. Yet we can be sure that Chelsea have at least enquired about the availability of West Ham striker Andy Carroll.

The Daily Telegraph’s Matt Law wrote on Tuesday that Chelsea had made an approach, and a bid of £20m has been widely reported. Chelsea initially wanted Carroll on loan, but West Ham rejected that idea out of hand. They are prepared to countenance his permanent departure, however.

Many clubs are linked with many more names as the scouting networks of elite clubs grow, but it is pretty certain that Carroll is not just a possible option for Chelsea, but a serious one. No deal has yet been done, but there is a willingness on all sides to work on one.

It seems a remarkable deal, not least because it goes against most of Chelsea’s usual transfer business. Their managers usually prefer to buy readymade players, well aware that they are unlikely to even last until the end of their initial contract. Why buy potential if you are not there to see it realised?

The obvious example of that policy arrived last week. Ross Barkley may not prove himself a success at Stamford Bridge, but at £15m for a 24-year-old England international he is a no-brainer. Whatever happens, Barkley will have a sell-on value. Chelsea will be disappointed if they make a loss. Buy young (and usually youunger than Barkley), sell high.

It is this policy that annoyed Antonio Conte, particularly as it has been accompanied the club’s inability to land their top transfer targets. He wanted Alex Sandro. He wanted Kyle Walker. He wanted Virgil van Dijk. He wanted Fernando Llorente. Conte has moaned about fatigue within his  squad repeatedly, but his biggest issue is that the Premier League champions were unable to significantly upgrade their squad. Conte feels like he has been sold a pup.

Carroll is at least readymade. At 29, he is eager to play football but would presumably also be keen to swap one London club where he is struggling for league minutes to join another London club where he may struggle to get league minutes. The Champions League football and potential pay rise from his current £70,000-a-week should be an added incentive. Chelsea’s medical staff should look out for red marks on Carroll’s body from where he has spent the week pinching himself.

It is hard to believe that Chelsea have got themselves into a position where the Premier League champions will pay more than West Ham did for an English striker who has little chance of making England’s World Cup squad. Carroll has 52 goals in his entire top-flight league career, has suffered a string of debilitating muscle injuries and has had a host of recent disciplinary problems. Even without the possible injuries and suspensions, he is an odd option. With them, this looks nonsensical.

Those who champion Carroll’s effectiveness - particularly for England - do so because he is a handful off the bench, an excellent Plan B when chasing a game and wanting to play direct football. And yet that cannot be the case at Chelsea, because they already have a player whose best attributes are heading (Morata has two more headed goals than any other player in the division) and his hold-up play. 

In their story on the potential move, the Guardian noted that ‘Conte believes Carroll would add a different dimension.’ Yet unless he has been hiding something for the first decade of his career, that simply isn’t true. Chelsea would not be signing a Plan B, but a lesser - if more extreme - version of their Plan A.

Chelsea do have other attackers, of course, and you wonder what Tammy Abraham must make of this situation. Abraham has struggled for service at Swansea but scored more Premier League goals than Carroll this season and also scored 23 in the Championship last season. He was loaned out after Chelsea spent £33m on Michy Batshuayi, who has been a disaster. It smacks of the same logic that led Chelsea to loan out Ruben Loftus-Cheek and spend £75m on Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko.

None of this points to any joined-up thinking, but signing Carroll would be comfortably the oddest move yet. Had you been told in August that Chelsea would play Barcelona in the Champions League in February with Carroll up front, laughter would have followed you out of the room. Surely Chelsea will decide on a more suitable option?

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