Manic Monday

Liverpool FC smashed their transfer record twice om a manic Monday by following the £22.7 million signing of Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez from Ajax with an extraordinary £35 million swoop for Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll.

One year ago today Andy Carroll was a Championship striker with four league goals for the season, scored against Blackpool, Plymouth, Doncaster and Peterborough. He wakes up this morning as the eighth most expensive footballer of all time, anywhere in the world.

The £35 million transfer of a 22-year-old striker with only 11 Premier League goals and half a season's experience as a first-choice player in the top flight is one of the most extraordinary stories of English football. But yesterday was one of those extraordinary days.

It came as Liverpool accepted defeat in their attempts to convince Fernando Torres to stay at Anfield and agreed the £50 million sale of the unsettled Spaniard to rivals, Chelsea.

Torres added insult to injury after completing his Chelsea move by declaring “I’m now at one of the top clubs in the world”. He’s got to be kidding!

Asinine. Stupid. Shithead. One of these words best describes him! Okay, all three words fit.