Does Crouch Rue Missing Toon Bandwagon?
Last updated : 14 August 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor
Sam Allardyce offered £7m for the striker when it was thought either Michael Owen or Oba Martins would be leaving in the summer. But both the player ... and Liverpool ... snubbed the offer.
Liverpool said £13m would be the starting price for any deal, which frightened off Newcastle, and Crouch said he wanted to pledge his future to the Merseyside club.
But the England striker wasn't even named on the bench at Villa Park and The Sun claims he was 'fuming' that he was the only senior player who didn't travel to the Midlands.
Crouch faces renewed competition at Anfield following the arrivals of Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin over the summer.
The thought of Crouch in a Newcastle team was a major concern to Newcastle fans, what with Big Sam's reputation for the 'long ball game' which he fiercely denies.
Having the 9ft 13" Jolly Green Giant in their team does change Liverpool's pattern of play, and you see more of the ball coming out of the sky covered in snow than the usual one-touch play we come to expect from The Reds.