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West Ham's bid to sign Andy Carroll received a massive blow last night after the England striker was sidelined for up to FOUR MONTHS.

The Hammers agreed a £15.5million fee with Liverpool for Carroll and targeted Chelsea's 17-goal hitman Romeu Lukaku to play alongside him on loan next season.

Carroll had been granted some time to think over the move with his former club Newcastle United also interested.

But yesterday the striker was forced to pull out of the England squad for the upcoming games against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil with injury.

Late last night he discovered he will be out of action for between three and four months with a heel problem he is understood to have picked up in West Ham's final game of the season against Reading.

It is a monster setback for Liverpool, who had hoped to recoup the cash from the cut-price deal to reinvest in other signings.

West Ham are now considering their options with the worst case scenario that Carroll - who cost the Reds £35million in January last year - missing the first four to five weeks of the new season.

The best case scenario would be that he makes the big kick-off in August but he is expected to miss the whole of pre-season, regardless of the club he ends up with.

(Image: Getty)

West Ham have not yet written off the deal. But the setback is Carroll's third major injury in 23 games and, should the east Londoners press ahead, it could affect his transfer value.

Before news of the injury was confirmed last night, West Ham joint-owner David Sullivan told Mirror Sport he was confident of landing Carroll on a permanent basis after the 24-year-old star's successful loan spell.

He said: "When I spoke to him he said he very much enjoyed his time at West Ham and that he very much enjoyed his time in London.

"He won't play against at Liverpool and in World Cup year you'd hope he wants to play somewhere that he already knows he feels comfortable in a system proven to get the best out of him. But only he knows the answer."

West Ham had been set to push ahead with a move loan Lukaku from Chelsea regardless of the outcome of the Carroll deal.

With returning boss Jose Mourinho targeting Atletico Madrid striker Falcao and Bayern Munich marksman Mario Gomez, the Blues are expected to allow Lukaku - who spent this season on loan at West Brom - to be farmed out again.

Sullivan added: "Lukaku would be a loan again. We'd maybe buy him a year later if Chelsea decide they don't want him."

The highly-sought after Belgian has hit 17 goals this season - including Sunday's hat-trick against Manchester United during his spell at The Hawthorns.