A YEAR ago today Andy Carroll became the most expensive British footballer in history.

His dramatic £35million switch from Newcastle United completed a frenetic deadline day for Liverpool.

Twice in the space of a few hours the Reds’ transfer record was shattered with the Carroll deal following the arrival of Luis Suarez for £22.7million from Ajax.

Suarez was heading for Anfield regardless but the swoop for Carroll was made after Kenny Dalglish reluctantly agreed to Fernando Torres’ request to head for the capital.

Once Chelsea met Liverpool’s £50million asking price for the sulking Spaniard, Newcastle were offered a fee for Carroll they simply couldn’t refuse.

The young striker from Gateshead found himself catapulted into an intense spotlight. A return of 11 goals in 19 league games in the first half of the season for his boyhood club was a sign of promise but the eye-watering outlay for his services raised eyebrows.

Much has changed at Anfield over the past 12 months. There will be no repeat of last January’s late night drama with Dalglish insisting he’s not looking to add to his squad before the window shuts at 11pm today. The manager’s only focus will be on taking maximum points against Wolves at Molineux.

However, on the first anniversary of Carroll’s arrival, questions marks remain over Liverpool’s big No 9. A lack of form and fitness have combined to make it a tough year for Carroll at Anfield.

There has been no hiding place as he has adapted to life with the Reds. At times that huge price tag has weighed heavily on his broad shoulders. He has scored just six goals in 22 starts and 14 substitute appearances.

Manchester City claim their football administrator Brian Marwood rejected an approach from someone acting on Liverpool’s behalf last week to swap Carroll for Carlos Tevez.

The Reds responded by insisting that is “fundamentally and categorically just not true”.

Dalglish refused to be drawn on the speculation surrounding Carroll and City at Melwood yesterday.

But the boss, who has always robustly defended Carroll from criticism, was delighted to hear the striker speak so positively about his Anfield future in the wake of Saturday’s FA Cup victory over Manchester United.

“There’s no need for us to pass comment on anything that’s been speculative in the newspapers,” Dalglish said.

“We don’t need to pass comment because we’ve said there’s nothing happening – there is no-one going in or out of the club before the transfer window closes.

“We don’t need to get involved to justify what people have said. Ask them to justify it, not us.

“We aren’t talking about any specific incident but if you are going to do business in any way, shape or form, you don’t disclose it until it’s done, do you?

“As Tom Werner said there’s no point letting the facts interfere with a good story. They said we bought Stewart Downing off YouTube! Do me a favour.

“We don’t have any problem with any of our players because nobody is going anywhere.

“I read Andy Carroll’s comments. He said he’s very happy here and doesn’t regret coming here. That’s the best reference you can get.”

Carroll didn’t add to his four-goal haul this season against United but he caught the eye with his overall contribution.

The 23-year-old imposed himself on the contest and his link up play with team-mates was much improved.

Crucially, he set up the late winner for Dirk Kuyt and there are hopes that performance will finally kick-start his Liverpool career.

“We were satisfied on Saturday with everyone’s performance but for some reason the focus always seems to be on the big fella,” Dalglish said.

“We’ve can’t keep answering questions about Andy every week. It’s not fair on anybody. We were delighted with everyone’s effort and the performance.

“Everybody needs confidence. You need confidence in what you write and Andy needs confidence in what he’s doing on the pitch. It’s not exclusive to football or any individual.”

After the euphoria generated by memorable Cup triumphs over both Manchester clubs, the Reds return to Premier League action at struggling Wolves tonight.

A return of just six points out of the last 18 on offer has seen Dalglish’s side slip to seventh place, six points adrift of fourth placed Chelsea.

Dalglish knows a first league win of 2012 is urgently required to get hopes of Champions League qualification back on track.

“We’ve got 16 league games left, we’ve got a cup final at Wembley and the fifth round of the FA Cup at home to Brighton – there’s a lot for us to play for this season,” he said.

“We’ll try our best to do as much as we possibly can and make it as good for everybody as we can.

“We got ourselves to Wembley and then another big game came up right on the back of it on Saturday and they got themselves through that. We just have to keep going.

“If we are going to get better then we have a hell of a lot to look forward to. We’ve not done too bad this season so far, have we?

“The new players will know more about this football club after the last week. It’s a huge plus for them. It’s difficult for people to understand sometimes how to play for a club of this standard.

“It’s nice to have people who support Liverpool having a smile on their faces. The boys are happy that they’ve made a lot of people happy. It can certainly give us confidence but we’ve just got to get on with it. We have to approach every game as the most important one. If don’t do that we won’t get anything from Wolves.”