I feared for my life. It was 25 minutes being chased by two people on bikes pulling guns out

ANDY Carroll has a confession to make. He takes us back to the helicopter ride between Newcastle and liverpool on January 31, 2011 and the hours before completing his British record £35million transfer. ‘Do you know what,’ he begins, ‘I was injured at the time, and all I’m thinking is, “Please, just fail the medical”.’

This is not, he stresses, a reflection on liverpool, it could have been any club.

‘The minute I got on that helicopter I wanted to come back. I knew it had to happen. Whatever age, I needed to walk back on that pitch and play for Newcastle again.

‘I remember leaving here (Newcastle’s training ground) in Kevin Nolan’s car because loads of people were outside. We went to his house and watched it on TV. I was like, “I’m not going”. I’d just bought a house, and a cat the day before!

‘But then I was told, “You’re going”, and that was that.’

Newcastle owner Mike ashley had 35million reasons to tell the hometown hero he was off.

‘listen, I would have rather stayed at the time and all the way to the helicopter I’m thinking, “What is happening? What am I doing?” But looking back, and how it shaped me as a player and a person, I would honestly still do it. I probably needed to get out of the city to grow up.’ as a person, oK. But as a player?

Sportsmail disagrees. Carroll in a Newcastle shirt was a superhero — a ponytailed, hair-raising men-ace who would bust noses and nets. ‘It feels good to hear that,’ he says. ‘It’s why I didn’t want to go. Up here, I always felt good about myself playing. Now I’m back, I have that same feeling.’

Does he know how many goals he scored in 2010? ‘ Twenty?’ It was 26. He hasn’t hit double figures in a calendar year since.

He made his England debut, the first of nine caps and two goals. a quick aside, is that a point of pride or regret? ‘ No regret. If it wasn’t for injuries maybe I’d still be there. a lot of good players don’t get any caps.

‘But yeah, it was the best year of my career, injury-free. It was one year though. I never saw the last 10 years going the way they have — I wanted to achieve more, play more, score more. That’s why I’ve still got a lot more to give. I’m not a stupid young lad any more. If the injuries stay away then I believe in myself.

‘I’m only 30, let’s do another interview in five years’ time. I’ll still be playing here, that’s what drives me.

‘This isn’t a one-year thing, I want a new deal.’

The andy Carroll who sits before us now is alive. There is energy in both body and soul. He has just played his first full game since rejoining Newcastle in august and captained the club for the first time at Burnley last weekend.

But to demonstrate his new-found contentment, he feels the need to reveal the torment of his final months at West Ham, where he spent seven years before being released in the summer. Carroll has four children — ‘my little mates’ — and is engaged to The

Only Way Is Essex star Billi Mucklow. He is a multi-millionaire. But deprived of football following a series of botched ankle operations, he struggled to take satisfaction from a life many on the outside would presume guarantees happiness.

‘I was in a dark place. It was hard to snap out of and it wasn’t until I was on the a1 driving back up here that I was like, “This is it, I can start enjoying life again”.

‘Even my mam and dad were always up and down to london because they were worried. I had good times at West Ham but I needed to get out, it had gone stale. The minute I woke up I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I was so angry with myself, my ankle, at not playing.

‘When I went out people wanted to talk about football, and I just couldn’t handle it. I stayed in on my own.

‘ I was then putting myself upstairs when people were down-stairs. I was just like, “Get every-one out the house, I don’t want anyone here!”’

Carroll, we learn, felt an injustice. It is easy to understand why as he begins an exasperated recount of the ankle injury that plagued him for two years.

‘This is ridiculous,’ he warns. ‘I had one operation and the screws came loose. Unheard of. The next one, the fracture opened again because the screws still weren’t tight enough. So I went to a new surgeon. This time the screws were bigger but they realised the ankle ligaments were frayed on the outside. It had never been spotted, for two years!

‘My last game at West Ham I played with a broken ankle. I’d been told it was fine. I was in so much pain and thought, “I just can’t do this any more”.’

Somehow, Carroll finds the will to laugh.

‘I should have gone to Wickes and got a big bag of screws before those consultations! But the latest surgeon was excellent. He repaired everything. That’s nine months and no problems.’

after a summer training on his own and with no adverse reaction,