‘I was an England international but now it costs me money to play for my new club’

A former international is losing money by playing for his new club after securing an unlikely move. Andy Carroll, who earned nine caps for the Three Lions between 2010 and 2012, is now plying his trade in the fourth tier of French football.Earlier this month, after spending a year in the second division with Amiens. His new club are having to start from scratch after falling victim to financial ruin and suffering an administrative relegation to the fourth tier.They were recently stripped of their professional status, leaving Carroll on a much lower salary than he would have been used to in England. He is reportedly earning just shy of £3,000 per month, a far cry from the blockbuster wages in the .

Carroll’s move to Bordeaux has surprisingly left him out of pocket, with the forward telling that his decision to join the fallen giants of French football was not motivated by money.”To be honest, it’s even costing me money to come and play for Bordeaux, but I’m playing football and I am simply happy to be playing football,” he said.”I want to be a part of this club’s history and to be frank, it wasn’t a question of money. In my career it’s never been a question of money.”Carroll scored twice on his competitive debut for Bordeaux as they were held to a 2-2 draw against Chateaubriant last weekend. He featured 35 times for Amiens during the previous campaign, chipping in with four league goals.

The 35-year-old broke through at in 2006, playing a key role in their promotion to the in 2010. He maintained his prolific form in the top flight, which earned him a big-money move to six months later.It never really worked out for Carroll at Anfield and he went on to have a seven-year spell at West Ham United before returning to in 2019. He also played for Reading and West Bromwich Albion in the EFL before moving to France last year.Carroll’s impressive form before joining saw him called into the England squad and he scored his first international goal in a friendly against Ghana. His only strike at a major tournament came at Euro 2012, when he headed home against Sweden.