Pardew denies Carroll was ‘pushed out’ of Newcastle

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has denied Andy Carroll's claim that he was forced to leave Tyneside for Liverpool. The 21-year-old striker, who on Monday became the most expensive ever British player when he joined the Reds in a £35m deal, said that he was pressured to leave St James's Park by managing director Derek Llambias. "Derek asked me to hand in a transfer request, so I was pushed into a corner and had no choice," Carroll told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. "I wasn't wanted by them and they made it clear they wanted the money."

Responding to the allegations, Pardew told local paper the Shields Gazette: "What can I say? We didn't force anybody to leave. I disagree with that point... Personally, I'm disappointed. He's a lovely lad, and I really like him, but it was his decision, and you can't change that."

Pardew went on to say that far from forcing Carroll out of Newcastle, the Magpies' frontman used Liverpool's interest to try and wangle a better deal on Tyneside. "We turned down a big offer [from Liverpool], and they came back with a second big offer," explained Pardew. "We were having a discussion about what we were going to do with that offer when Andy requested to see me.

"I went to see Andy, and face to face we had a conversation about him wanting a new contract, even though he signed on in October, and [he said] if he didn't get that contract, he wanted go. I asked him what he wanted, and I went to the board. We had a discussion about what the ramifications would be for the whole club. We took the view, with him signing a contract in October, that this would cause us all sorts of problems."

Meanwhile, Carroll's new employers have admitted that he won't be running out in a Red shirt for some considerable time as he recovers from a thigh injury sustained in the New Year. "He's got a bit of a knock and is probably a few weeks away," said Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who wasn't perturbed by the fact. "The signing wasn't made to cover a few weeks. He signed for five and a half years and there's a lot of weeks in that time when he'll be fit and playing for us."

And Dalglish inadvertently contradicted Carroll's claim that he had wanted to stay at St James's Park. Explaining why Liverpool had paid so much for the Geordie, as well as the £22.8m forked out for Ajax striker Luis Suarez, the Scot said: "A very important factor for us is that both players wanted to come here. Leaving Newcastle was a wrench for Andy as a local boy, but if he was going to go anywhere there was only one club he'd want to come to."

In other news, Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston has told Talksport that Liverpool had made a deadline day offer for Charlie Adam but that it was "nowhere near acceptable". The 25-year-old Adam was linked to both Liverpool and Manchester United on Monday, but Oyston explained that they wanted a lot more for the Scottish midfielder than Liverpool were prepared to offer.

"The offer was nowhere near what we could even begin to consider and more importantly we'd gone past the stage - and I did flag this up to them a fair while ago - that if they were seriously interested then they'd better put their best offer on the table...

"What we've got to consider isn't so much valuation, obviously that's a consideration, but what's at stake for us and the fact that we really don't want to lose momentum or part of our spirit or affect things badly."

Finally, just hours after the transfer window closed for the winter, Manchester United winger Gabriel Obertan has allegedly handed in a transfer request to the Old Trafford club. The Daily Mail reports that the 21-year-old, who arrived in the northwest in 2009 from Bordeaux in a £3m deal, is apparently pessimistic about his chances of nailing down a regular spot with the Red Devils and wants to return to France.

However his agent, Karim Djaziri, dismissed the story, telling Sky Sports: "I have read that Gabriel has handed in a transfer request, but no, he has not done this... He is still learning and he knows he is not ready to be a regular starter in the team, but he is working hard to be a member of the first team." ·