Ok, so we are still a way off the start of the new Premier League season, but the opening day fixtures are now out. See the full list of top-flight games and the early match betting.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce admits he has been priced out of a move for Real Madrid’s Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Allardyce is looking for a new striker after the departures of Matt Derbyshire and Roque Santa Cruz this month.

“I think probably Ruud, from a salary point of view, is out of our reach and I think he is not going to be fit until September,” Allardyce said.

“We need someone right now who can join up with the squad as soon as we can.”

Allardyce also denied he had made an approach for Portsmouth and England striker Peter Crouch – also on financial grounds.

“We think he is probably out of our reach and bigger clubs than Blackburn will take him if Portsmouth decide they are going to sell him,” he continued. “No-one has said to me from Portsmouth that he is for sale, so we haven’t done anything from that point of view.”

Van Nistelrooy moved to Real in the summer of 2006, but he has fallen down the pecking order at the Bernabeu following the arrival of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent weeks.

Ok, so we are still a way off the start of the new Premier League season, but the opening day fixtures are now out. See the full list of top-flight games and the early match betting.

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