Source: Northern_Echo
Henry’s take on Carroll deal
LIVERPOOL owner John W Henry has claimed the club did not care what they had to pay for striker Andy Carroll, as long as they emerged with £15m in cash left over after the sale of Fernando Torres to Chelsea.[LNB] Liverpool have come in for criticism after lavishing £35m on Newcastle to bring the unproven Carroll to Anfield but Henry said the size of the fee was not a concern as it was always factored in to negotiations with Chelsea.[LNB] The fee for Torres was dependent on what Newcastle asked for Carroll,'' Henry said, explaining they simply wanted a difference of £15m.[LNB] The negotiation for us was simply the difference in prices paid by Chelsea and to Newcastle. Those prices could have been £35m from Chelsea for Torres and £20m to Newcastle for Carroll, 40 and 25 or 50 and 35.[LNB] It was ultimately up to Newcastle how much this was all going to cost. Newcastle made a hell of a deal. We felt the same way.'' With Ryan Babel moving to Hoffenheim for £6m, the difference on the Carroll deal allowed Liverpool to pay for the £22.8m arrival of Luiz Suarez from Ajax.[LNB] However, Henry expressed surprise Chelsea were willing to go as high as £50m, questioning whether Roman Abramovich's club could meet UEFA's new financial fair-play rules.[LNB] I was surprised Monday morning to receive an offer from Chelsea for Fernando Torres in that amount at the same time they were announcing such large losses (£71m for 2009-10),'' Henry said.[LNB] The big question is just how effective the financial fair-play rules are going to be.[LNB] Perhaps some clubs support the concept in order to limit the spending of other clubs, while implementing activities specifically designed to evade the rules they publicly support.[LNB] We can only hope that UEFA has the ability and determination to enforce what they have proposed.'' For Liverpool's part, Henry pledged to live well within the rules.[LNB] We've always spent money we've generated rather than deficit-spending and that will be the case in Liverpool,'' he said, talking about the way in which his Fenway Sports Group operate the Boston Red Sox baseball team.[LNB] It's up to us to generate enough revenue to be successful over the long term. We have not and will not deviate from that.''[LNB]
