On 31 January 2011, Liverpool bid £30 million for Carroll. This was rejected. Newcastle then accepted a bid of £35 million. Carroll passed a medical and signed a contract soon. The transfer was completed shortly before the 11.00pm deadline. Carroll said he had been forced to leave Newcastle. But the club said he had requested a transfer after they turned down Liverpool's £30 million bid. Liverpool confirmed that Carroll would wear the number 9 jersey. This was previously worn by Fernando Torres, who left Anfield for Chelsea on the same evening for £50 million. The transfer made Carroll the eighth overall most expensive footballer at the time. He was the most expensive British footballer of all time. He also became the second most expensive footballer playing for a British club, after Torres. Carroll had suffered an injury while with Newcastle United. Therefore, Liverpool announded Carroll would have to wait some time before his debut.