Andy Carroll: Newcastle favourites to sign West Ham forward before January transfer window closes

Newcastle United have been installed as favourites to sign Andy Carroll from West Ham in a move that will bring the local boy back to his former club.

Carroll started his career with the Magpies and currently plays for Premier League rivals West Ham, though various reports suggest he could leave the Hammers this month with his contract expiring at the end of the season.

West Ham may cash in on the 30-year-old if an offer is good enough, and bookies believe Newcastle will win the race for Carroll.

According to Oddschecker, the St James’ Park club are 5/2 favourites to be Carroll’s next club, eight years after they sold him to Liverpool in a £35million deal.

Carroll, who scored his first goal of the season in Saturday’s FA Cup defeat of Birmingham, has been priced at 6/4 to leave West Ham this month, though he is still odds-on to remain at the London Stadium beyond the end of January and the close of the transfer window.

Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek said: “Andy Carroll was a fan favourite at St James’ Park before Liverpool made an offer that the club just couldn’t refuse.

“The born-and-bred Geordie would be welcomed back with open arms on Tyneside but it would involve Mike Ashley putting his hand in his pocket, and we all know how that usually goes.”

Newcastle are in a fight against relegation this season, and three of their rivals at the bottom of the Premier League table are also included in the market for Carroll’s next club.

Burnley (16/1), Huddersfield (20/1) and Southampton (25/1) have all been priced up, but Newcastle have the edge over the struggling trio.

After breaking into Newcastle’s first-team from their academy, Carroll scored 33 goals in 91 matches for the Magpies. He joined Liverpool in January 2011 before linking up with West Ham a year-and-a-half later.