West Ham end their pursuit of Andy Carroll

I'm staying!

West Ham United have accepted defeat in their bid to lure Andy Carroll from Liverpool. Although the clubs agreed a £2 million loan deal for Andy Carroll, the 23 year old England striker has told the Hammers that he has no intention of moving to Upton Park.

Carroll's former club Newcastle United have retained an interest in him, though, they will not pay over the odds for Carroll, who they sold to Liverpool in 2011 for a huge fee of £35 million.

As the start of the new Premier League season approaches, Carroll's future at Liverpool seems unclear. Carroll has continued to train with the squad as he looks to overcome a groin injury. Though, it remains to be seen whether the England international will play any part in Liverpool's home leg of their Europa League qualifier against FC Gomel, who they beat 1-0 in the first leg.

And due to UEFA's rule that a player can play for one club during qualifiers and another in the group stages, it means that Carroll would be able to play for Liverpool in their qualifier on Thursday and represent Newcastle if he makes the move back to Tyneside.

Newcastle still remain confident that should Carroll leave Anfield, he will only be interested in a move back to the Tyneside club.

Lille have refused to sell Debuchy to Newcastle unless the £6m fee is met

Lille president Michel Seydoux has told Newcastle United to forget about signing French full back Mathieu Debuchy after rejecting the Tyneside club's latest offer.

It was reported that Newcastle had tabled a new bid for the 27 year old full back after chasing the player for the last few months.

However, the French club who sold Yohan Cabaye for a bargain basement price, of £4.8 million, to the Tyneside club have refused to budge on their valuation on the France full back and have now attempted to draw a line under the matter.

Alan Pardew made the right back one of his main targets this summer and is hoping that Newcastle's latest offer will be enough to bring Debuchy to Tyneside.

Mathieu Debuchy, who is an international team mate of Yohan Cabaye, has indicated his desire follow his compatriot, but after seeing Cabaye's valuation increase significatly since making his £4.8 million switch, Lille are holding out for £6 million (which they think Debuchy is worth).

Pardew has waited patiently for a breakthrough regarding one of his major transfer targets, which include FC Twente defender Douglas and Liverpool striker Andy Carroll, while he has also added to his development squad with the acquisitions of Roman Amalfitano, Gael Bigirimana and Cutis Good.

However, with the new season approaching as well as a the challenge of the Europa League Pardew will need to also strengthen his senior squad as well.

Newcastle retain the services of Ba

Staying on Tyneside

Newcastle United's Senegalese striker Demba Ba is set to stay on Tyneside after the deadline to activate his release clause in his contract passed.

The Senegal international had repeatedly expressed his desire to stay at the club, that took a chance on him when everyone had doubts due to his knee problems, and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was confident that the club would retain the services of the 27 year old.

Though, there was speculation that the striker would leave St James Park before the 31 July cut-off with interest from the Premier League runner-ups Manchester United as well as Tottenham Hotspur.

It was understood that the release clause in his contract would have been activated by a bid of £7.5 million.

Ba finished last season as the club's top scorer with a total of 16 goals, three more than his compatriot Papiss Cisse, who was a sensational after his arrival in January from German club Freiburg.

One of Cisse's finest goals came in a 2-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge where he scored an absolutely stunning volley that will be remembered for seasons to come.

All but one of Ba's goals last season came before he went to the African Cup of Nations in January.

Hammers make record breaking bid for Carroll!

On his way out?

West Ham United have stepped up their interest in Liverpool striker Andy Carroll by making a record breaking 17 million pound bid for the striker.

The deal in place would see the Liverpooland England striker move to Upton Park on an initial loan deal with a commitment to buy the 23-year old striker after 12 months. However, Carroll doesn't view West Ham as a serious offer and has already spoken of his desire to stay at Liverpool and fight for a spot in Brendan Rodgers team but if he had to leave Anfield he would prefer a move back to the North East with Newcastle United.

The Tyneside club have retained a strong interest in their former striker and are currently monitoring Andy Carroll's current situation at Anfield.

Newcastle United have made an initial bid for the striker which was turned down as Liverpool said it was nowhere near their valuation of the striker and judging by that it seems Liverpool, who bought the striker in January 2011 for a massive fee of 35 million pounds, are not prepared to consider any offers below 20 million pounds. Though, the Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has said that Liverpool should be prepared to take a big loss on the player instead of keeping him on the bench at Anfield.

Though, it seems West ham United are serious contenders and extremely keen to land the former Newcastle United striker as they are looking to build their team around Carroll but his uncertainty over a move to Upton Park could damaged West Ham's chances of landing the striker despite his strong friendship with former Newcastle United team-mate Kevin Nolan, who made the switch to West Ham last year.

Jack Sullivan, who is the son of West Ham co-owner David Sullivan, added to the speculation surrounding a possible move for Andy Carroll by tweeting: "Dad is working on the biggest signing in the history of the club - twice as big as anything the club have done before!"