Allardyce: It would be Ruud not to

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The Rovers boss is in desperate need of striking reinforcements after Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire both left this month. He has immediately set his sights on an ambitious move for Van Nistelrooy, who is set to be one of several victims of Real Madrid's unprecedented spending spree.

Allardyce said: "The sort of salary he would be on at Real Madrid may be beyond us. But maybe he wants to come and play in England again and take less of a salary - then we'd be interested."

And, just as when he persuaded Nicolas Anelka to join former club Bolton, Allardyce sees no reason why a deal could not be done - assuming the ex-Manchester United frontman is willing to take a pay cut in exchange for regular football.

"Who'd have thought Bolton would get Nicolas Anelka? Nobody did. But I went out and did it," Allardyce said.

"It would be nice to do it with a Van Nistelrooy. It would be a major coup if I could pull it off."

Owen is another faded star available this summer, and will not command a transfer fee when he lapses out of contract with Newcastle. However, Allardyce is apparently not tempted to take a chance on a player he worked with previously at St James' Park.

"I just question the injury scenario," Allardyce said.

"I need a striker that's going to be available for 30 games next season. That's not happened for Michael over the last four years."