SAM Allardyce is planning to steal a march on his rivals this summer by staying close to home.

While other Premiership managers take "working" holidays in Japan and Korea, the Wanderers' boss will be working ... strengthening his squad for next season.

"I'll be watching the World Cup," he explained, "but throughout the month of June, while other people might be willing to wait, I could be nicking a player or two.

"I believe if you get your work done sooner, you can get it done cheaper. So I'll need to be a bit closer to home ready to pounce, if needs be, to clinch a deal if the right player comes up.

"If I'm out there all the time, it wouldn't be quite so easy to nip back."

Allardyce, who worked wonders with the capture of internationals Bruno N'Gotty, Fredi Bobic and Youri Djorkaeff during the course of this season, has already drawn up a list of summer transfer targets, including one top international who will be playing in the World Cup Finals.

The Reebok recruitment drive will again concentrate on the international loan market, which the manager has been checking out in recent trips to the Continent and Central America, although a visit to Mexico last month apparently proved fruitless.

But he has confirmed identifying one specific foreign target. Speaking on Wanderers World today, he said: "That's hush hush at the moment but it is a player who is looking to come to England. We'll have to see how that develops."

Allardyce is aiming to have his new signings in place before the pre-season programme gets under way - a luxury he has not been afforded for the last two summers because of Wanderers' involvement in the promotion play-offs.

Another bonus comes with news that, despite the club's debt problem which rules out big money transfer deals, he is not under pressure to raise cash.

"For the first time for a long time, we don't need to sell anybody," he confirmed.