Carroll reveals what he said after £35m Liverpool move in brilliant interview on Joelinton, weight loss & more
Andy Carroll has revealed he is desperate to wear our club’s legendary number nine shirt, which is currently occupied by £40m Brazilian Joelinton.
Legendary strikers such as Hughie Gallacher, Jackie Milburn, Malcolm McDonald and Alan Shearer have all donned the famous jersey in years gone by - something that Carroll did himself before his controversial move to Liverpool in 2011.
In a open interview with beIN Sports, which touches on everything from recent weight loss to his plan to return as soon as he sealed a £35m move to Liverpool, the 30-year-old has admitted he is desperate to get the number nine shirt back:
"100% I want the number nine and Joe knows that as well,” Carroll said.
“I 100% want the number nine but Joe deserves it.
“He's playing well, he's doing what he needs to do on the pitch and he's got it, that's his number and nobody will be taking that off him.”
The England international also looked back at his younger years of his career, a period where he often found himself on the front pages of a newspaper rather than the back:
Carroll added: "When I left to go to Liverpool I said straight away 'I'll be back one day,’ it's something I wanted and something that I thought I could do."
“I've obviously changed. 10 years ago I was young, stupid, naive - all of them.
“I feel like, and obviously I'm very stupid sometimes but a lot less now. I've grown up, I'm a family man, I'm happy and settled.”
What may come as a surprise to Toon fans is that the target man, who is yet to score since his return to Tyneside, claims he has come back following the restart in better physical condition than he was before the coronavirus outbreak, revealing how he's lost just shy of a stone!
“I'm a lot fitter now than before lockdown, 100%.,” he said.
“I've lost five or six KG, my body fat has went from 11% to 7%, and I done everything (I could) over the lockdown, stuck with the plan and I came back a lot sharper.”
