Allardyce wants Nistelrooy at Rovers

Sam Allardyce is hoping that Ruud van Nistelrooy will fill the gap up front left by the departure of Roque Santa Cruz.

Blackburn have been hunting for a new striker since the Santa Cruz deal became inevitable, and are keen on using the ₤16.5 million the club received for the Paraguayan.

According to published reports, Allardyce is keen on the soon-to-be-33-year-old Dutchman, not simply because of his goal scoring talents, but also because of his high profile.

Adding to the appeal of the former Manchester United hitman is that he may cost Rovers as little as ₤1.25, the same amount that Tottenham Hotspur recently bid for the Madrid man.

There are some major stumbling blacks for the deal though.

First, Van Nistelrooy will likely demand a salary in the region of ₤70,000 per week, which could be a problem for the club.

Also, the Dutchman recently rejected the approach by Tottenham, deciding to stay on at Real, and it will likely be even harder to convince him to join Blackburn.

Big Sam is no stranger to remarkable deals though, famously bringing Nicolas Anelka to Bolton Wanderers in 2006.

"It would be nice to do it with van Nistelrooy, but I don't know," said Allardyce.

"It was hugely difficult back then with Anelka and it will be much more difficult now. The sort of salary van Nistelrooy would be on at Real Madrid may be beyond us. But maybe if he wants to come and play in England again and take less of a salary, then we'd be interested.

"We wouldn't be able to match his salary at Madrid even if there was no fee involved. But there's no doubt it would be of interest to me. I'd want to talk to him and it'd be a major coup if I could pull it off."

As the race for Van Nistelrooy heats up, Allardyce moved to dispel any rumors of a move for Newcastle's Michael Owen, arguing that the 29-year-old is too injury prone.

"I just question the injury scenario," he explained. "I need a striker who's going to be available for 30 games next season. That's not happened for Michael over the last four years at Newcastle."