Andy Carroll's Liverpool future was never going to extend much beyond the summer months, even with reports that he'd be blocking the move to West Ham that the two clubs had agreed upon two weeks ago in hopes of reviving his tenure on Merseyside or rejoining his boyhood club in the Northeast. It's now looking as though everything will be settled once the summer window opens officially on July 1, with a number of reports that the player will be signing a deal after returning from holiday.

As we discussed before, it's move that makes as much sense as anything else--West Ham are intent on supporting the player and engineering their approach around him, leaving little question as to where he fits or how much time he'd see in the starting eleven so long as he's fit and on-form. For his part Carroll seemed to enjoy the time on loan this season, and while it would have been a point of pride to come back to Liverpool and fight his way into Brendan Rodgers' plans, it was never looking likely that he'd live out the vision many had when he and Luis Suarez arrived in January of 2011.

The player will be going but the strange sense of sentimental attachment won't be, as I'm probably going to try to catch as much of Andy Carroll in a West Ham shirt as possible and wish him nothing but the best. His performances in a Liverpool shirt didn't necessarily warrant too many warm feelings, though wishing him well was made easier by the price tag brigade, who'll be out in full force yet again to analyze and criticize wasted money and etc.

For the club it's a continuation of significant changes from the past few seasons, with Carroll set to become the third signing from the 2011 calendar year that'll make his exit. Reinforcements are supposedly close to arriving--Iago Aspas is supposed to have a medical tomorrow ITK KLAXON--as Carroll heads the other way, and so we'll hope that whoever takes his place can continue to improve the club, and that the permanent move to London sees Andy Carroll's career flourish.



