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A non-league manager remained tight-lipped when asked about a shock swoop for Andy Carroll.
After leaving Bordeaux post the 2024/25 season, the former Newcastle and Liverpool forward is now a free agent, aiming to stay nearer to his family in England.
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Reports soon emerged linking Carroll to Chelsmford City, who play in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.
Yet, when questioned by the Non-League Paper regarding the club’s alleged interest in the nine-time England international, City manager Angelo Harrop chose not to reveal any specifics.
“No comment,” Harrop said.
“I am really pleased with our current roster. We possess genuine talent, youthful energy, and numerous players with a strong desire to succeed, which is fantastic. Additionally, they’re all at the ideal stages in their careers.”
“We believe there is a lot of development in all those players we’ve signed and that’s the DNA we’re going to go with. We’ve got some young players who have played a lot of games already.
“My only worry for us is, we’ve got a brand new squad so we’ve got to knit together very quickly, and we’re probably only going to run with a maximum of 17 or 18 first team players.
“But Rome wasn’t built in a day. The football club has already made massive strides in the last two months. We’re trying to build a proper football club that will be successful over many years.”
City’s mooted swoop for Carroll comes after the club transitioned into operating as a full-time club this summer.
In a letter to the club’s supporters in January, chairman and majority owner Spencer Gore noted a ‘need to do things differently’ for the team to achieve football league status.
“In the club’s ambitious pursuit of attaining EFL status, our board has decided that to give ourselves the best chance of success, we should start conducting the formal assessment of what it would take to operate as a full-time football club,” Gore said.
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Gore added: “This change will obviously require a significant increase in the club’s budget, which both Dan (Watkins, co-owner) and I are willing to support if we decide that it is the right time to take this significant step.”
City finished 11th out of 24 teams in the National League South last term with 62 points, 17 outside of the play-off positions.
But the potential arrival of Carroll would no doubt give them a major boost in their promotion hopes for the coming season.
Carroll bagged 11 goals in 23 appearances across all competitions last term for Bordeaux, who played in the fourth tier of French football having been relegated due to financial difficulties.
Although he was on a salary of just €1614 per-month at Bordeaux, Carroll was lured by the ‘great project’ on offer and the ‘opportunity to play for a big French club’.
Yet Carroll’s adventure in Bordeaux lasted one season, as the club thanked him for ‘his experience, physical impact and professionalism to his role on a daily basis’.
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“Off the pitch, he is an exceptional and generous personality that the Club’s fans and employees have enjoyed working alongside,” a statement from Bordeaux added.
Should Carroll return to English football, it would be his first playing stint on home soil in nearly two years.
The towering striker has enjoyed a storied career in England, scoring 54 Premier League goals in 248 appearances with Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham.
Spells at West Bromwich Albion and Reading followed before he moved to French side Amiens in September 2023.
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