When Sam Allardyce visited Sky's Goals on Sunday for a chat about West Ham, one of the key topics he touched on turned out to be massively illuminating for Liverpool fans. That topic, of course, was Andy Carroll, and in particular the recall clause that many had speculated—but which had not been previously confirmed—existed in his loan deal that would allow Liverpool to recall the striker in January.
"We couldn't agree in the early stages with Liverpool on a deal for Andy," said Allardyce, "so it looked as if it wasn't going to happen—and then right at the very end there was an opportunity where he could leave and we struck that deal very quickly.
"There's an opportunity for Liverpool [to get him back in January] if they want to, but whether they do or they don't will be in a matter of time. If Andy's playing for us on a regular basis by then and that's the case, he'll have played a major part in keeping us in the league this year. In the end, the deal was structured to get the player however you could get him, from my point of view. This player is that big, in my opinion, for us this season, so you do whatever you can do to get the deal done."
One would expect that after the disastrous end to the summer's transfer window for Liverpool and the continuing struggles to start the season, manager Brendan Rodgers will be given the funds to target a signing or two in January. However, if Liverpool's owners remain resistant to new spending the despite the massive reductions to the wage bill managed since the end of last season, then a return for Carroll hardly seems out of the question now that Allardyce has confirmed it would be possible.