Agent given exclusive written permission by West Ham to broker sensational transfer – report
By Dominic Toner
West Ham gave Andy Carroll’s agent permission to speak to Chinese Super League clubs before Tuesday night’s deadline, according to a report.
The Times claim that the Hammers wrote to agent Mark Curtis two weeks ago to give him “exclusive permission” to set up what would be a sensational transfer to one of three Chinese clubs.
It is said that Curtis was allowed to listen to interest from Tianjin Quanjian, Hebei China Fortune and Shandong Leuneng Taishan, who were attempting to do a last piece of business before the deadline cut-off point in China.
The Times claims to have seen a copy of the letter sent by Andrew Pincher, the West Ham secretary, to Curtis, who was formerly Carroll’s agent before the pair split last year.
The letter, sent on February 15, gave Curtis “exclusive authority” to gauge interest in Carroll from the three Chinese clubs.
The report details that the lengths West Ham went to have cast serious doubt about his future at the club beyond this season.
Carroll will now focus on ending the season strongly for the Londoners and will hope to earn a recall to the England squad.
The forward has been in good form since the return from his long-term lay-out in December with a knee injury, scoring six goals for the Hammers.
He has missed the last two matches with another knock as he continues to suffer with injury setbacks, but could be back in the side for the Premier League clash with Chelsea on Monday.
Football Insider verdict:
Carroll is currently the best forward option at West Ham and they were right to keep him in January. Slaven Bilic needs to bring in new recruitments in the summer to bolster his attacking options. Carroll has been a consistent goalscorer during his time with the Hammers and is great at linking up play. However, he has had an ongoing problem with injuries during his career and is always likely to pick up a knock during the season. They will be able to cash in on Carroll’s services if China come calling again, something they should probably accept. West Ham should search the market for a couple of top-class options, instead.
In other West Ham transfer news, the club are set to land a £10million ace in the summer.
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