Liverpool push Carroll towards West Ham in hope of landing Arsenal ace Walcott
By Dominic King
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West Ham will launch a final attempt to land Andy Carroll before the window closes with a deal that will shape Liverpool's transfer fortunes.
Though the England striker has consistently made it clear he does not want to leave Anfield, his omission from the squad for Thursday night's Europa League qualifier against Hearts effectively means his Liverpool career is over.
Moving on: West Ham are hopeful of securing a deal for Carroll, who is deemed surplus to requirements at Liverpool
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers would like to add Theo Walcott to his squad, even though it emerged the Arsenal forward will see out the final year of his contract at the Emirates after holding amicable talks with Arsene Wenger.
But should Liverpool offload Carroll, they would be in a position to test Arsenal's resolve on Walcott, who earlier this summer turned down a new five-year deal worth £75,000 per week.
Liverpool's tight financial constraints mean they cannot bid for Walcott outright but offloading Carroll to West Ham would change things dramatically.
West Ham would initially take Carroll, 23, on a season-long loan, paying his £80,000 per week wages in full, and then - provided they remain in the Barclays Premier League - would be obliged to sign him permanently for £17milllion.
Unsettled: Walcott has entered the final year of his contract with Arsenal
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has been desperate to land Carroll ever since it became clear his prospects under Rodgers would be limited and he is looking to move on Carlton Cole to free up space in his squad.
Newcastle continue to remain on the periphery and manager Alan Pardew refused to rule his club out of the reckoning, saying: 'Would I want him in my squad? Of course I would. Probably every Premier League manager in the country would want him in their squad. 'But can the deal be done? That's nothing to do with me.'
It will be a hectic final two days for Liverpool, as they are expected to offload Charlie Adam to Stoke – though it would be no surprise if Everton emerged as late rivals – while Jay Spearing has the option of a number Premier League clubs, including Aston Villa and Southampton, on loan.
Final days: Adam is poised to join Stoke before the transfer window closes
Rodgers would also want to sign long-term target Clint Dempsey from Fulham but it is clear that the days when Liverpool could simply go out and sign a player with barely a quibble have gone.
When asked whether Liverpool could afford to buy without selling, Rodgers replied: 'No. Not at this stage, obviously I have seen a lot of the links and it is great that those players would want to come here but the reality is that we are not in a position to do those sorts of deals.
'I don't think we are in a position
to have £35million players as third choice strikers or wingers who are
on £5-6million a year. This is the challenge I have.
'The
club needs to repair financially. Unfortunately it is going to take
more than one window. This is an incredible club but even if you want to
move some players on, because of the wages and other factors, they are
not just going to walk out the door.
'It is going to take us time to get to the squad we want. In the meantime we have to keep our head down and work hard and get results.'
Chief: Rodgers is keen to bring in new faces before the end of August
He added: 'There is nothing on any player. I will speak about a player after Friday if he is in the door.
'In these next 48 hours speculation and gossip will be rife. I could be here all day answering speculation. I have no need.'
Rodgers was also unwilling to speak about players who could leave the club in the final days of the transfer window.
Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson, Andy Carroll, Joe Cole and Jay Spearing are among those reported to be targets for other clubs.
Rodgers said: 'We have had a number of enquiries about some of our players.
'Everyone knows where they stand at this moment. One or two of them may have decisions to make as to whether they want to be a squad player or play regularly somewhere else.'
Exit? Rodgers was unwilling to specify if anyone was leaving, with players like Joe Cole (right) rumoured to go
Rodgers first priority though, is to make sure his side see off Hearts in their qualifying round play-off.
Liverpool lead 1-0 after the first leg of the tie at Tynecastle and are clear favourites to progress but Rodgers is taking nothing for granted.
He said: 'For the game my focus will purely be on the game and then after that we'll still have another day or so for any deals. We'll take whatever comes from that.
'It was a difficult game last week. The atmosphere and the Hearts players were fantastic. They did the team really proud.
'It was important for us to get a good result and winning the game has set it up really nicely for us.
'There is no doubt the advantage is with us. That is the reality, but we are certainly not going to be complacent.
'It is not one where we expect to go through. We are very much focused on the task.'
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Rodgers is a clueless muppet. He's got 1 point from two games, and after LFC play the gooners you can make that 1 point from 3 games. He has obviously kissed the blarney stone, but where I come from, we call people like that blaggers... He's just loaned out his only proper number 9 and crawled past some sweaties.. One word for this fella: clown... He's be out of a job by Chrimbo..
- Who are ya , Liverpool, England, 30/8/2012 22:41
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