Andy Carroll’s Liverpool hell: Former star wanted to FAIL his Anfield medical and ‘almost cried’ at his unveiling – before his life spiralled out of control with boozy strip club and casino nights out

Andy Carroll has claimed that Newcastle held him ‘over a barrel’ in order to push through his mega-money move to Liverpool, as he opens up on his miserable spell on Merseyside.

Carroll, 37, became the Reds’ record signing when he joined for £35million in January 2011 from Newcastle, making 58 appearances and scoring 11 goals for the club across two seasons.

However, the striker, who currently plays for Dagenham and Redbridge in the National League South – a club he co-owns with YouTuber KSI – has detailed how he never wanted to leave his boyhood club for Anfield in his new book, Owning It.

‘After landing in Liverpool, we went straight to Anfield, where I had my medical,’ he wrote. ‘I kept thinking, “Please just fail this and you can go home.” But I passed with flying colours.’

Carroll then detailed how the Magpies forced him to hand in a transfer request, otherwise he ‘wouldn’t play’ for his beloved Geordies again.

The forward continued: ‘Newcastle had me over a barrel, and I later learned that me putting in a transfer request meant that Newcastle got to keep 10% of the £35 million fee that otherwise would have gone to me.

‘The first thing I did after signing was phone my mom and dad. They were less upset that I’d left Newcastle for Liverpool than the fact I hadn’t discussed it with them. “You need to pick up the cat,” I said. And that was that.’

Carroll went on to describe how he ‘looked like I wanted to cry’ when being unveiled as a Liverpool player alongside Luis Suarez, despite forcing himself to explain that he was happy to be at the club.

Back in 2011, the story was that Carroll had forced a move away from Newcastle in order to be Liverpool’s new main man after the departure of Fernando Torres to Chelsea.

But Carroll claims the rhetoric from St. James’ Park was ‘so far from the truth as to be almost laughable’ and that then boss Alan Pardew was former owner Mike Ashley’s ‘puppet’.

He added: ‘I was desperate to tell everyone what had really gone on in all its gory detail, but I thought it best to keep a lid on it.

Carroll opened up on how he was hoping to fail his medical at Liverpool and wanted to ‘go home’

During his unveiling he describes how he looked like he ‘wanted to cry’ alongside fellow new signing Luis Suarez (right)

‘I didn’t want Liverpool and their fans to think I hated the idea of being there, especially as they’d shelled out so much for me and handed me the number 9 shirt as worn by Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, and Torres.’

In his book, the striker also tackled his persistent problems with alcohol, which arose after he got his first big salary bump up.

‘Before my weekly wage jumped to £2,500 a week, I was quite sensible,’ said Carroll. ‘But soon enough I was spending time in bars, strip joints and casinos. If everyone wanted a tray of shots, I’d buy a tray of shots.

‘And while alcohol didn’t turn me into some violent loon, a well-known footballer spending time in local establishments was bound to attract trouble.’

Carroll went on to play for a further seven clubs after leaving Liverpool, including the likes of West Ham, West Brom, Reading and even a return to Newcastle. His career also saw him take to the lower leagues of France with Bordeaux.

He continued: ‘I’m not saying I could have had a career like Harry Kane but he is a great example of what kind of career you can have when you live a clean and disciplined life.

Carroll has releases a new book called Owning It where he has opened up about his career in depth 

‘Don’t drink alcohol, eat the right things and spend hours each week in the gym and recover properly.

‘Contrast, I wanted to live an everyday life. Go out at weekends with friends and go on holiday with friends in the international break. Go to music festivals and have a few too many drinks and a kebab now and again. Make mistakes without appearing in the papers.

‘You could argue trying to live a normal life is incompatible with being a majorly successful sports person. But there is no point spending the rest of my days wishing I had a different mindset. I’m sure I’ve had more fun than your average player.’

Elsewhere in the book, the former England international also made the bombshell admission that he was sexually assaulted ‘a few years ago’ by a ‘celebrity mate’ who was later jailed for three years.

In a deeply candid passage in his new book, Carroll has told how he went through the ‘traumatic’ assault, which he has been unable to forget after a ‘humiliating and horrendous’ court case.

Carroll explained that the incident occurred one evening after he had played a game for Newcastle United when a ‘celebrity mate’ of his former partner invited himself round to watch a boxing match.

The striker wrote that after feeling uncomfortable during their interactions, he went to bed early and remembers feeling ‘light-headed’ after a ‘few drinks’. He then claims he awoke to him sexually assaulting him.

Andy said he threw him out the house and ‘smack[ed] him as hard as [he could]’ and knocked him unconscious when he tried to re-enter. The star then called the police before sobbing in [his children’s] nanny’s arms.