West Ham to for out £44MILLION on Carroll - The Sun

WEST HAM will fork out a whopping £44million to land dream striker Andy Carroll.

The England star is to hold talks over a five-year deal with Hammers boss Sam Allardyce next week.

Big Sam has made Carroll his No 1 priority and his board are backing him to the hilt.

Joint-chairman David Sullivan has now agreed to pay Liverpool a club-record £16m up front with a further £3m in add-ons to prove his commitment to the player — taking the deal to £19m.

Carroll will also be paid around £100,000 a week to smash the Hammers' pay barrier as their marquee signing.

The five-year deal would amount to more than £25m in wages for the big Geordie.

An insider said: "Carroll is weighing up the offer. He still fancies a top-five club or a return to Newcastle, where he has two children. So there is still a battle to sign him."

West Ham are set to move into the 54,000-seater Olympic Stadium in 2016 and want a team worthy of their new home.

Carroll, 24, is due back from his holiday in America next week and Sullivan's co-chairman David Gold tweeted: "The chances of Andy Carroll joining West Ham have risen from 50/50 to 75/25."

The striker has been desperate to prove he can make it at Liverpool following a £35m switch from Newcastle.

But the imminent arrival of Celta Vigo hitman Iago Aspas has made him realise he has no future under Brendan Rodgers.