Andy Carroll is at a career crossroads as another new season arrives and he finds himself without a club.
The former England striker is a free agent - just as he was at the start of the 2021-22 campaign. He eventually went on to join Championship side Reading on a short-term contract last November before doing the same in the second half of the season with divisional rivals West Bromwich Albion.
In total he scored five times in 23 games combined last season but Albion boss Steve Bruce chose not to extend his deal at the culmination of last season. Speaking about the decision not to extend Carroll's stay at the Hawthorns, Bruce said: "We’ve got two centre forwards, one (Kenneth Zohore) we’ve paid £8million for and the other (Daryl Dike) £7million in January.
"They’re both number nines. Andy Carroll has done great for us and he’s in better nick now than he’s been for the last few years. He’s done tremendously well but he’s unfortunate that we’ve got two centre-forwards who we hope this summer will be fit. I think I need to strengthen in other areas rather than at number nine.
"So we have to make tough decisions and believe me that was a really really tough decision because I know how popular Andy was with the fans and how popular he was in the dressing room. But I’ve got to think of the overall balance of the squad. His wages will be freed up for somebody else. That’s the stark reality of it."
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Carroll, who scored two goals in his nine senior England appearances, was then linked with a move to Club Brugges earlier this summer. But the Belgian champions reportedly cancelled a trial after Carroll returned "insufficient medical results".
The 33-year-old had cut short his honeymoon before setting off for Belgium in a fruitless attempt to find a new club.
In recent days another Championship side, Cardiff City, had tentatively been linked with a move for Carroll but their chairman Mehmet Dalman appeared to rule out that prospect after his appearance on a recent podcast suggested the striker they were looking at would require a fee - effectively snubbing any links to free agent Carroll.
"It's a little bit out of our hands at the moment," Dalman told A.C.E Podcast Nation. "We've identified our targets, we have had discussions and we have made our offers. We are waiting for clubs and the players concerned to come back to us. In an ideal world we would like to buy a player and loan a player. I hope we get them over the line soon. We are talking to a striker at the moment as a potential purchase. We will have to write a cheque out for that striker. And we think it's worth doing, we are having that discussion."
Cardiff boss Steve Morison has already brought in 13 new summer signings and the new-look Bluebirds started the season in style last week by beating title favourites Norwich 1-0 at home. They travel to Reading on Saturday.
