Andy Carroll could have moved to Sunderland for free during his time at Newcastle, according to Magpies assistant John Carver.
The Black Cats were allegedly interested in signing a young Carroll before he was given his chance by the then academy boss in 2004.
The big striker went on to repay the faith shown in him by scoring more than 30 goals for the Tyneside club after his first-team breakthrough.
His form in both the 2009/10 and 2010/11 campaigns saw him attract attention from a whole host of Premier League clubs, before he signed for Liverpool for a £35 million fee which made him the most expensive British player of all time.
And Carver admitted that he was pleased he had offered Carroll a professional contract rather than letting him move on.
He told The Chronicle: “It was like I stumbled across him. I went down to work at the Academy when Graeme Souness brought his own men in.
“And when I went down there, whether or not to keep Andy was one of the first decisions I had to make.
“The decision was do I give him a scholarship or not? After some deliberation we gave him a deal. My decision was the final decision and I was pleased that we made the right decision.
“Andy has gone on and earned the club £35million.”
Carver also expressed delight with the way in which the money earned from the transfer of Carroll had been used wisely to bring quality to the club.
"The money we got is back on the pitch," he said.
“Yohan [Cabaye], Demba [Ba] and Papiss [Cisse] have given us our mettle. This is how modern football works if you are looking to improve your team.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice a player – but if you get three players back of the quality that we’ve got, then it is good business."
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