Andy Carroll ankle injury could scupper Chelsea move and leave West Ham short for four months

Andy Carroll
Andy Carroll's career has been blighted by injury Credit: getty images

Andy Carroll’s chances of securing a move to Chelsea this month appear to have been dashed after a scan is understood to have shown that the West Ham United striker has an ankle injury which may even require surgery.

Carroll was scanned by West Ham on Thursday morning after being unable to train and the results highlighted a problem. Carroll is therefore expected to be out for between four to six weeks but further medical assessment is needed to decide the appropriate treatment.

The worst case scenario would mean the 29-year-old has to go under the knife which might rule him out of action for between three and four months.

Carroll is wanted by Chelsea and although they are yet to make a formal offer there has been an expectation of a bid in the coming days. West Ham were resistant to Chelsea’s attempts to take Carroll on loan until the end of the season – even if they were also willing to send Michy Batshuayi in the opposite direction.

Instead West Ham were willing to listen to offers to buy Carroll, who has 18 months left on his contract, and a bid of around £20 million would probably have been acceptable. In total, including add-ons, West Ham paid Liverpool £18.5m for Carroll whose career at the club has been blighted by injury.

Batshuayi has been a West Ham target for some time and they were interested in the Belgium striker before he joined Chelsea. The 24-year-old was watched by West Ham manager David Moyes during Chelsea’s FA Cup third-round replay against Norwich City on Wednesday when he scored before being substituted. It is understood that Moyes was prepared to allow Carroll to leave in exchange for Batshuayi who is still expected to go out on loan this month if a replacement can be found.

Andy Carroll
Carroll had been keen on a move to Chelsea Credit: Getty images

Carroll is understood to have wanted to make the move to Chelsea and is said to be devastated after suffering yet another injury.

The England centre-forward scored his first goals of the season for West Ham as he helped them come from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion two weeks ago. But he was not in West Ham’s match-day squad for Tuesday night’s FA Cup third-round replay against Shrewsbury Town.

West Ham are still hoping to offload one of their forwards – probably either Diafra Sakho, who was wanted by Crystal Palace last week before that deal cooled, or Javier Hernández – as they try tore-balance their squad with Moyes targeting signings in midfield. West Ham remain in talks to try to sign the Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario on loan but he has other options. Before Carroll’s injury two forwards were expected to leave.

The development means it would be highly unlikely that Chelsea would follow through their interest in trying to sign Carroll before the transfer window closes at the end of this month.

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte wants to improve his strike-force and appears to have little faith in Batshuayi to provide adequate back up for record signing Alvaro Morata who has struggled of late.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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