Andy Carroll handed in a transfer request after they turned down Liverpool's £30 million bid. Liverpool confirmed that Carroll would wear the number 9 jersey previously worn by Fernando Torres, who left Anfield for Chelsea on the same evening for £50 million. The transfer made Carroll the eighth overall most expensive footballer at the time, and also the most expensive British footballer of all time. He also became the second most expensive footballer playing for a British club, after Torres. Due to an injury that was sustained while with Newcastle, however, it was announced that Carroll would have to wait some time
Progression of the British football transfer fee record sum which caused a national sensation and outrage amongst the football authorities. The £5,000 mark was first reached in 1922 when Falkirk paid that amount for West Ham United's Syd Puddefoot, and six years later Arsenal paid the first ever £10,000 fee to acquire David Jack of Bolton Wanderers. After the Second World War, the spending power of clubs in mainland Europe outstripped that of British clubs for the first time, resulting in several substantial jumps in the transfer record. John Charles became the first British player to command a fee of £50,000 when he joined Juventus in 1957, and