Club Brugge is very close to Benik Afobe, Andy Carroll doesn’t get a chance

Indeed, ex-international and cult striker Andy Carroll. He was presented to blue-black, which invited him to the Belfius Basecamp yesterday to take tests. Carroll was fully vetted: physically, medically and mentally. However, there is still no sign of a contract. First a decision has to be made today whether there is a trial period, and last night it sounded that the chance is very small. In itself, Carroll is an opportunity, because he is transfer-free. And he has a unique profile anyway: the 1m93 tall striker was considered one of the best headers in the Premier League for years. But Carroll’s career is in the doldrums. It was in the 2009-2010 season with Newcastle, then still in the second division, that he broke through.

After one year in the Premier League, he was then taken away by Liverpool, who paid no less than 40 million euros for him. He became an international with England, played at the European Championship 2012, but then dropped out. At West Ham, Carroll had good moments, but due to injuries he became more and more out of the picture. Last season he was in second division at Reading and West Brom, but he did not get a new contract there. Now at Club Brugge, was the question? He didn’t hope too much, and rightly so. Blauw-Zwart eventually decided not to offer Carroll a trial period.

Aphobe coming

The 29-year-old Afobe seems to be on the way again. The striker was trained at Arsenal’s academy, which sold him to Wolverhampton after several loan spells in 2015. There, Afobe scored 21 goals in 46 games, after which then Premier League club Bournemouth put no less than 13.3 million euros on the table for the striker. Things went less smoothly at the highest level in England, with ten goals in two seasons. Still, Stoke City thought he was still worth 13.5 million euros in the winter of 2019.

In recent seasons, however, it has been difficult with loans to Bristol City, Trabzonspor and Millwall. At the latter club, Afobe came out on top with 12 goals in 38 games in The Championship.