Injuries or not, Carroll's career since leaving Tyneside has unquestionably stalled. His move to Liverpool was lampooned and his time at West Ham has been a hit-and-miss affair. Carroll's career scoring record reads as: 186 games, 52 goals. That's less than one in three - and he has not broken into double figures in the Premier League since he left the North East in 2010-11. As well as a poor defence last season, the club desperately struggled to score goals. Only Papiss Cisse (11) and Ayoze Perez (seven) netted more than five league goals for the Magpies in 2014-15 - so it;s debatable whether adding a forward with 14 goals in the last three seasons realistically resolves this issue. Having just parted with £6 million to sign Emmanuel Riviere last summer, would it be wise for the club to spend money on another forward who doesn't score goals in tremendous volume?