Baggies win race for Carson
18 Jul 2008 - 14:49:00
West Bromwich Albion have won the race to sign goalkeeper Scott Carson in a £3.25million deal from Liverpool.
Carson, 22, has been linked with several Premier League clubs following Liverpool's capture of Diego Cavaleri to provide cover for regular number one Jose Reina.
The Baggies faced competition from Middlesbrough and Stoke City to sign the former Leeds United youngster.
But Tony Mowbray's side have come out on top after agreeing an initial £3.25million fee for the Reds with a further £500,000 payment based on appearances.
The Whitehaven-born keeper has agreed a four-year contract at The Hawthorns.
Carson spent the 2006-07 campaign on loan at Charlton Athletic, before featuring in 36 matches for Aston Villa last term.
He was expected to join Villa on a permanent basis this summer but reports claimed manager Martin O'Neill refused to meet an initial asking price of £8million.
His arrival takes the Baggies' summer spending to almost £14million after the signings of Roman Bednar, Luke Moore, Kim Do-Heon, Graham Dorrans, Gianni Zuiverloon and Marek Cech.