John Henry & co. love moneyball, no? So let's take a look at their productivity this season:
Andy Carroll - 19 apps (11 starts), 2 goals, 0 assists
Defoe - 15 apps (7 starts), 7 goals, 1 assist
In fewer minutes, Defoe makes 4 times as many goals+assists. (We will write off the minutes part after taking into account Spurs' greater flair.) Baseline price: 4 x 35m = 140m.
Now we take into account their respective ages, with Carroll's value dropping only ~50% over the course of his contract, and Defoe's dropping 100% due to his age. But I suspect that Levy, himself sensitive to aging, is so generous that he would be willing to slash Defoe's true price by 50%, leaving a measly 70m - a triffic bargain!
But of course we have to remember that Liverpool are our rivals, so there is an added 'rival fee' of 10m, making Defoe available for the still-paltry sum of 80m. This is obviously a stupendous deal for Comolli and King Kenny.
Now, of course we hate to let him go, but we do have to finance our new stadium and whatnot so I
think Levy will reluctantly listen to offers starting at that price. Get cracking, Comolli!