BLACKBURN Rovers may be forced to look abroad in their search for a striker to replace Roque Santa Cruz.

Rovers, who start pre-season training today, had been keen to bring in a proven Premier League striker but inflated prices in England’s top flight are likely to tempt Sam Allardyce to look overseas.

Rovers are known to be keen on a season-long loan deal for young Chelsea forward Franco di Santo and have been linked with various domestic players including Kevin Davies, although they have now insisted that they did not enquire about the frontman.

Allardyce last week revealed that Rovers chairman John Williams had spoken to Bolton about the former Blackburn forward, but it has now become clear that the conversation was initiated by Phil Gartside.

Bolton chairman Gartside is understood to have phoned Williams to clarify reports about Allardyce’s interest, while stressing that Davies was not for sale.

Williams said: “We have been looking around for a proven Premier League striker but it is proving a difficult task.

“We may need to look abroad and go down that route.

“Di Santo is a player we are interested in but we have not enquired about Kevin Davies.

“Phil Gartside phoned me to clarify the rumours, not the other way round.”

Allardyce is determined to bring in ‘one or two’ strikers, with di Santo likely to be the second of the signings.

The Rovers boss is thought to be working to a budget of around £13m but has already brought in Elrio van Heerden, Gael Givet and Lars Jacobsen - with Steven N’Zonzi becoming the club’s fourth summer signing yesterday.

The focus, though, is very much on a forward and Allardyce, who famously pulled off the signing of Nicolas Anelka while in charge of Bolton, is willing to sacrifice further numbers to bring in the goalscorer he needs.

He said: “I did it three years ago on Nicolas Anelka when I felt 50 per cent the problem I had at the time at Bolton was that we always created lots of opportunities, as many as anybody else, but the ratio of conversion was almost bottom half of the Premiership.

“If we secured someone who would put the goals in the back of the net, we would be much better as a team and sacrifice bringing in any other players other than that.

“We brought in Abdoulaye Meite and Nicolas and that was it.

"It was a big gamble because the squad wasn’t very big but Nicolas’ goals took us up to the next level.

“And, even though that was my last year, it took us to the next level and would have taken us beyond it if we’d gone again in January, but we didn’t at that particular time.”