SAM Allardyce, who will no longer contemplate operating without three goalkeepers, solved his short-term problems by taking the veteran Kevin Poole on a short-term contract.

But he sees Barcelona's Richard Dutruel, who is out of favour at Barca after moving from Celta Viga last year, as a more long-term solution for Wanderers.

The manager explained: "I need someone in to compete with the other two. It's a third goalkeeper I'm looking for, not a number three.

"If I can find somebody better than Jussi, that would be great ... but I don't think I will."

Good keepers are not only hard to come by but also command high fees, as Wanderers discovered when they inquired about taking Dutruel on a season-long loan. Since Manchester United stunned world football by paying Monaco £7.5 million for Fabien Barthez two summers ago, top goalkeepers have commanded fees almost as high as the most coveted outfield players. When Liverpool were embarrassed by Sander Westerveld howler in the 2-1 defeat at the Reebok in August, Gerard Houllier went out and spent almost £12m in the space of 24 hours on Poland international Jurek Dudek from Feyenoord and 20-year-old Chris Kirkland from Coventry.

But their fees paled into insignificance compared to the world record £23m Juventus paid Parma for Guianluigi Buffon in the summer.

"It makes Fabien Barthez's fee look like a drop in the ocean," Allardyce said. "With Barthez it was 'Phew! £7.5 m for a 30-year-old goalkeeper!'. But all of a sudden Kirkland, who has relatively little experience, goes for £6m. The tag on that is that Liverpool see him as a potential who is worth it. With Dudek also going for around £6m it shows that top goalkeepers' valuations are much bigger than they ever used to be.

"There are very few about commanding that type of money but in Jussi I feel I've got a top level goalkeeper."