Right, so we've got about six hours left in this window. Is everybody having fun?
The big news flying every which way is that after early reports Newcastle hadn't been in touch with Liverpool over everybody's second favourite felon (come back when you've been convicted of multiple assaults and we'll talk about moving you up to top spot, son) at the club, everybody now thinks that Liverpool may very well be in for Andy Carroll to the tune of a whopping £30-35. Which is, you know, is kind of holy crap expensive. Though as Ed pointed out in the comments of the last thread, "it's crazy money, but informed by the Torres debacle and likely driven by the fact that he's young, British, and that Darren Bent was signed for crazy money as well."
Which is completely true. Still, it's a little off putting to think Liverpool might well pony up Llorente money (ie., the rumoured 40M Euros) for the player in question. But best British striker since Rooney, in a market driven upwards by the Citys and Madrids, and he's British, and Bent isn't as good as him, and he's British, and Newcastle knows we're playing with £50M or so with like six hours left in the bloody transfer window. And he's British. And there's six hours left in the window so if you want somebody, well, there you go, because value isn't a consistent in football and there are a lot of factors at play here.
So hey, it's all relative, right? And it's not likely he probably wouldn't be a good addition that might still leave enough to pay for a squad player or two to strengthen the overall, erm, strength of the squad. Still, absolutely nothing is confirmed yet, so who knows what will happen. For what it's worth, The Liverpool Echo does think it's happening, as does Tony Barrett, who claims Newcastle have not actually rejected the latest £35M bid but are instead just trying to find their own replacement. And both The Telegraph and the BBC think Torres to Chelsea is down to the sorting formalities stage.
Elsewhere, as mentioned by Ed previously, Daniel Ayala is off to Derby to get games and Konchesky is off to Forest to get him out of our hair. Not sure how Konchesky qualifies to play for Forest having already done so for two clubs this season, but presumably it's down to it being a loan or that the team doesn't play in the same level of the pyramid. God bless FIFA's inane bureaucracy and endless sub-clauses, I guess.
Updates to follow.
Immediate Update: In news for the future news, Liverpool have signed 17-year old midfield prospect Conor Thomas from Coventry City on a loan that will be made permanent at the end of the season. One suspects that he will not walk into the first team.
Update: Ed says the official site has confirmation that Liverpool has met Newcastle's asking price for Carroll, which means it's pretty much going to happen and we'd best start finding the upside. Of course, the official site is overloaded and I can't get into it, so maybe Ed's just screwing with us. Elsewhere, Baldrick passes along that Sky passes along that Charlie Adam is on the way, and the various Twitterati seem to all say the same thing. Meanwhile Balague says that all that's left for Torres is permission from LFC to take his medical with CFC. And then to take it. And sign various papers and shit.
Spiteful Update from Ed:
Things have slowed down a bit update from Noel: After initial reports that the Charlie Adam fee was as high as £14M, it turns out to apparently be "only" £8M. Which at least isn't as bad as £14M. Also, Sky is reporting that both Carroll and Adam have arrived at Melwood and are currently undergoing their medicals, though everything on the Adam front appears to be a touch more speculative than the Carroll deal.
Video killed the radio stardate: Andy Carroll's goals this year, since he's a relative unknown to many (at least compared to his price tag). If and when match compilations pop up, I'll pass them along. Though that will probably be in a later post. But anyhow...