Peter Crouch wanted by Blackburn as Tottenham up Roque Santa Cruz bidding

Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce wants Portsmouth's England striker Peter Crouch to fill the boots of Roque Santa Cruz - and is ready to make a record £10 million offer.

Allardyce has been chasing Crouch for years but has finally been given the chance to make a proper move for him as Tottenham and Manchester City push up the bidding for Santa Cruz to £20 million.

The Rovers chief has already made initial soundings about Crouch and is looking at ways of landing him from cash-conscious Pompey and paying his king-size wages.

Crouch joined Portsmouth from Liverpool for £9 million but that was before owner Sacha Gayadamak decided to look for a new buyer and started selling players.

Allardyce wants to exploit this unique opportunity - with no rival bidders around either - and has now got extra potential funds as Spurs raise the bar in the race for Santa Cruz.

Rovers could now have £20 million coming in for the Paraguayan rather than the original £15 million that was on the table from City until Tottenham joined in - as revealed by Mirror Sport yesterday.

And while Harry Redknapp and Mark Hughes squabble over Santa Cruz Rovers are trying to find an adequate replacement - and the extra funds gives them the chance to go for Crouch.

Allardyce had been bidding for European strikers at around £5 to £6 million, based on a lower budget. But the extra money from Santa Cruz's sale puts him into the hunt for Crouch.

The Blackburn boss is adamant that Santa Cruz cannot go until he is satisfied that he has found someone to slot in for him - and if he gets Crouch that would be the perfect answer.

City last night had a fourth offer for Roque Santa Cruz rejected after Blackburn insisted they will accept nothing less than £20m.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have offered their striker Darren Bent to Blackburn as part of a player-plus-cash deal.

Although Santa Cruz has a release clause in his contract stating he can leave if a team comes in with a bid of at least £18m, that does not kick in until the summer and the striker is desperate to leave Rovers this month.

It has also emerged that Everton, with three strikers sidelined through injury, have enquired about taking Bent on loan from Spurs until the end of the season, a request which was immediately rejected by the London club.

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