Newcastle Transfer News: Andy Carroll Is At St. James' Park [Photos]

The striker is edging ever-closer to finalising his return to St. James' Park.

by Andrew Pollard
Newcastle United's Andy Carroll reacts after their 0-1 win in the English Premier League soccer match against Arsenal at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) ** NO INTERNET/MOBILE USAGE WITHOUT FOOTBAL
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

For Newcastle fans, it looks as if the re-signing of Andy Carroll is almost a done deal.

In an update to this morning’s story that the powerful forward could be returning to his hometown club, Sky Sports’ Keith Downie and The Chronicle's Lee Ryder are both that reporting Carroll is currently at St. James’ Park as he looks to finalise the move.

By all accounts, the free agent arrived at St. James’ without his agent or a lawyer present as he looked to complete an emotional return to the Toon for all involved.

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After bagging 33 goals in 90 games during his first spell with Newcastle, Carroll made a £35 million move to Liverpool in January 2011. An England international, the striker and his glorious locks then went on to play for West Ham – with whom his contract expired earlier this summer, rendering him a free agent.

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It's understood that - due to Carroll's injury history - his new Newcastle deal is looking like a one-year contract on a low basic wage, but with high incentives for appearances and goals. Basically, this is an extremely smart move from Newcastle and it's also testament to Big Andy's commitment to this return that he's willing to accept a contract offer that some similar players would turn their noses up at.

Due to Carroll’s free agent status, there’s no particular pressure to get any such deal finalised by today’s 5pm transfer deadline – although obviously the Magpies would love to have the player available for Sunday’s Premier League opener at home against Arsenal.

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Whether Andy Carroll would even be fit for that game is a massive if, although Newcastle fans would still just be ecstatic to see one of their own in and around St. James’ Park at the weekend.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.