SAM Allardyce is confident he can handle Liverpool misfit striker El-Hadji Diouf, if he can prise him away from Liverpool.

The Senegal international had a reputation for hitting the nightclubs in France but the Wanderers boss will not let that stand in his way.

"I don't know what his off-pitch activities have been," he said, dismissively. "If he comes, I'll ask him about them. But it's easy to find out if a player has been out when he should not have been, and, when you do, you discipline them in your own way. But I'm not aware of anything like that."

Allardyce believes 23-year-old Diouf would prefer to stay in the Premiership rather than opt for a move to Spain, where Malaga head a trio of clubs showing an interest, but first he must persuade Liverpool to play ball on a season-long loan. "We're at the early stages," he added. "We have to speak to Liverpool in great depth about the financial implications.

"If we could sort that out it would be a possibility. We need a little more genuine pace up front and he's got it.

"A change of club would benefit him, because his future appears to be no longer with Liverpool. Resurrecting your career at 23, it's very important to pick the right club.

"A club like ours can provide him with the opportunity and the service to show his talents more than at Liverpool."

Despite his problems at Anfield, where he was described as "my most expensive mistake" by former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, Allardyce sees Diouf as the kind of player who can add potency to the Wanderers attack -- one of two key areas where just marginal improvements could get them into Europe.