Andy Carroll set to sign unprecedented Newcastle contract

Andy Carroll has agreed an unprecedented pay-as-you-play deal to return to Newcastle United.

The deal has not yet been sealed but Carroll, who left for Liverpool for £35million eight years and six months ago, is all set to complete the paperwork before today’s 5pm deadline.

The 30-year-old, who is set to sign a one-year, pay-as-you-play deal, according to the Newcastle Chronicle, has undergone fitness checks and the club are keen to complete a deal.

Carroll is a free agent after being released by West Ham at the end of last season, but has been plagued by injuries throughout his career.

Carroll, who is not believed to have arrived on Tyneside yet, underwent ankle surgery in February and has not played since, and his acquisition even on a short-term deal would represent something of a gamble, so the pay-as-you-play contract will suit the club and the player has agreed to the idea.

However, if he was able to return to anything like the form which saw him emerge from the ranks at St James’ Park as a teenager before earning a £35million move to Liverpool in January 2011, that might just prove to be a gamble worth taking.