KOP News # 1390

Liverpool Transfer News: Reds Must Do Whatever It Takes to Keep Andy Carroll

By

Jessica Isner

(Featured Columnist) on July 5, 2012

5,399 reads

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

The Reds are already in danger of losing Luis Suarez. They can't afford to lose Andy Carroll, too.

Liverpool's worst fears came true on Wednesday when, according to the Mirror, they discovered that their star striker is being targeted by AC Milan during the transfer window.

After the 23-year-old's impressive performance for England at Euro 2012, Milan is holding nothing back in its quest to bring him in, despite the fact that Carroll struggled at the outset of his time with the Reds.

Though he initially struggled after a £35 million move brought him from Newcastle to Liverpool, Carroll proved his worth during the FA Cup and established himself as an even more desirable target at Euro, and he's now a target Milan will not allow to escape.

Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the son of club owner Silvio Berlusconi and someone who has been involved with Milan's proceedings during the transfer window, told the Mirror that he foresees Carroll being part of a new era at Milan:

We will continue to get younger while maintaining the culture. Milan still has its superstars. As a future target, I'd like Andy Carroll. I must admit that for his body build, and after seeing his header in the Euros, I would like to have Carroll at Milan.

Club Vice President Adriano Galliani attempted to downplay Milan's interest in the striker, telling La Gazzetta dell Sport (via ESPN) that the team was finished making moves in the transfer market, but it's hard to believe that Milan would pass up the opportunity to bring in Carroll after seeing what he's capable of during the latter part of the season.

And that's exactly why the Reds need to make sure their star doesn't slip out of their grasp.

Some may claim he's not worth his incredibly lucrative contract or that he's proven to be a bust, but after watching his performance at the end of the season, it seems more likely that he simply needed time to adjust—and once he did adjust, he showed exactly what he's capable of, and exactly why Liverpool wanted him in the first place.

To let him get away now—when he's finally living up to his contract, and when the Reds' Suarez is still a target of so much transfer speculation—might be a loss from which the Reds can't recover.