Andy Carroll reveals he gets £16 easyJet flights from best pal pilot as he goes back and forth from Bordeaux to London
ANDY CARROLL has revealed that he takes £16 easyJet flights back and forth from Bordeaux to London.
The former England striker, 35, quit British football for a new life in France last year.
After a season at Ligue 2 Amiens, Carroll signed for fallen giants Bordeaux in the fourth tier.
The ex-Newcastle and Liverpool star is loving his fresh start across the Channel.
With five children back in England, Bordeaux having regular flights to and from London appealed greatly to Carroll when making his decision to move.
“My best friend is a pilot with easyJet,” Carroll told The Times. “So I’m on staff travel and I get flights for 19 euros (£16).”
The Geordie was a hometown hero with Newcastle after coming through the Toon academy before moving to Anfield in January 2011.
Carroll’s £35million Liverpool switch made him the most expensive English player of all time at that point.
Having arrived on Merseyside with an injury, and having been quite happy at Newcastle, Carroll found the adjustment difficult.
“It wasn’t easy, I was still young,” he admits. “I stayed in a hotel and I hated it. I went on my own and I stayed there on my own.
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“I didn’t know anyone. I was in the room all day every day and I was driving myself mad.
“I was injured when I signed so my connection with the team was non-existent. I was like, ‘I didn’t want to come here and no one speaks to me.’ At 21 I was depressed.”
Carroll went on to move to West Ham, before eventually returning to Newcastle in 2019.
Following two seasons back at St James’ Park he dropped down a division to Reading, where he began to rediscover his love for the game.
Despite his achievements at the top level, Carroll doesn’t have a big ego, and is quite happy being one of the lads at fourth-tier Bordeaux.
He even enjoys cooking for his team-mates, and reveals that he will be serving up a treat for them again soon.
Carroll said: “I might go for a Christmas theme or do a proper old-school Whitley Bay fish and chips, with homemade beer batter and tartar sauce. I really enjoy cooking.
“I went for lunch with eight of the lads today at a little Thai restaurant, and they’re a great group. One of them speaks good English, but they were mainly French speakers. I can understand a lot more than I could. The players here are helping me.”