Report claims Carroll has been up for sale by West Ham under consecutive managers

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Andy Carroll looks set to have played his final match for West Ham after undergoing surgery to resolve an underlying ankle problem, according to the Times.

The Hammers are not going to renew the Geordie hitman’s contract, which expires at the end of the season, but the report also uncovers how out of favour he has been at the club for a sustained period of time.

Successive Irons managers have apparently had their concerns over playing Carroll because of the negative impact he can have on the team’s playing style.

And that has reportedly led to Carroll – who the Times say cost the Hammers £15.5m up front plus £2m in add-ons – being up for sale for the ‘past couple of years’.

In some ways, that’s not especially surprising. Carroll’s injury record makes him someone West Ham simply cannot rely on and the modern era dictates that strikers need to be more mobile, versatile and skillful than the former Liverpool man is.

Carroll is an elite target man when fit and healthy, but those days have been far too few and far between during his time in east London and as those managers have feared, having him in the team can actually lend itself towards a less attractive style of play.

It remains to be seen who will take Carroll on but he just needs to get himself fit on a regular basis and get back to playing football.