Liverpool loan Carroll to West Ham for the season

LONDON (AP) — Liverpool sent Andy Carroll on a season-long loan to Premier League rival West Ham on Thursday, just 19 months after signing the England striker for a club-record fee of 35 million pounds (then $56 million).

Carroll's place in Brendan Rodgers' squad has been under scrutiny since the new Liverpool manager took charge this summer and refused to make the striker a key part of his plans.

Liverpool said in a brief statement that Carroll "will spend the whole of 2012-13 with Sam Allardyce's team." The Reds didn't say whether West Ham have an option to buy the striker after his loan spell.

The presence of Allardyce, who coached Carroll when the two men were at Newcastle, should help the striker settle in and rediscover regular football.

"I want to be playing games and obviously hoping to score some goals," Carroll told West Ham's website. "I know the manager well and some of the lads, so it is nice for me to come to a place where I know people. I know Sam from Newcastle and he was a massive reason for me coming."

Allardyce was delighted with the deal.

"I think for all parties this is a great signing," he said. "Andy is an all-round footballer, but because he is 6ft 3in and one of his strengths is his aerial power, everybody dismisses the ability he possesses on the floor."

Carroll scored for England at the European Championship in June.

However, he failed to establish himself as a regular at Liverpool since his big-money move from Newcastle on deadline day in January 2011, scoring only nine goals last season.