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Andy Carroll has completed a sensational deadline day move back to Newcastle after being released by West Ham at the end of last season.<\/p>\nAndy Carroll has completed a sensational deadline day move back to Newcastle after being released by West Ham at the end of last season.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old former England striker has signed an initial one-year deal as he looks to put a miserable run of injuries behind him with the club at which he made his name before securing a \u00a335million switch to Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Gateshead-born Carroll said: \u201cIt feels very good. My friends and family are here, and it\u2019s the club that I support \u2013 it is home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carroll\u2019s return to St James\u2019 Park represents something of a gamble by new head coach Steve Bruce with the frontman still working his way back to fitness after undergoing ankle surgery earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
However, if he can return to anywhere near the form he showed as he burst on to the first-team scene as a raw teenager, it could prove to be a risk well worth taking.<\/p>\n
Carroll added: \u201cI enjoyed the time I spent here, and hopefully I can carry on where I left off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I left eight and a half years ago, I was scoring goals and I was enjoying my football. It\u2019s been a pretty tough time since then, and I just want to get back to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s home. I\u2019ve played here, I\u2019ve spoken to the fans \u2013 I am a fan \u2013 and my family is here. For me to get back to where I was, I think this is the only place for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carroll, who has been courted by his former club on more than one occasion since he left, made his senior debut as a 17-year-old in a 1-0 UEFA Cup victory in Palermo in November 2006, but it was three seasons later that he started to make his mark in earnest, scoring 17 league goals as the Magpies won promotion back to the Premier League.<\/p>\n
His progression continued apace in the top flight with his 11 goals by Boxing Day, which included a hat-trick against Aston Villa, prompting Liverpool to swoop on the final day of the winter transfer window in January 2011 with an offer Newcastle simply could not refuse.<\/p>\n
Carroll\u2019s exit was greeted by fury with fans who had hoped to see the team built around a new home-grown hero, and the Magpies\u2019 failure to replace him sparked further anger from supporters unhappy with owner Mike Ashley\u2019s running of the club.<\/p>\n
Those wounds have been re-opened in recent months following Rafael Benitez\u2019s departure as manager, and replacement Bruce faces a battle to persuade supporters there is cause for hope with some planning to boycott Sunday\u2019s opening fixture against Arsenal.<\/p>\n
However, Carroll\u2019s return has at least injected some excitement into another turbulent summer.<\/p>\n
Bruce said: \u201cTo bring a local hero like Andy back to Newcastle United is fantastic. He is very excited to be home.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a big, physical threat in the opposition box and another great option for us at the top end of the pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gives us something different to what we already have and we\u2019ll do our best to get him flying again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carroll is the fifth player to join the club since Bruce\u2019s appointment, following in the footsteps of record capture Joelinton, Allan Saint-Maximin, Jetro Willems and Emil Krafth.<\/p>\n
Bruce will hope he can help to further plug the sizable gap left by Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez, who contributed 23 league goals between them last season.<\/p>\n