SAM Allardyce could be set to switch his sights to Denmark after the bitter blow of missing out on Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju.

The Wanderers' boss has confirmed his interest in Lyngby midfielder Stephan Bidstrup after checking him out in recent weeks.

"We have an interest but that's in its early stages," he explained.

Allardyce was stunned to learn that Adepoju, the Nigerian captain, had snubbed Wanderers in favour of a better offer from Saudi Arabia.

He was convinced he had the 29-year-old Real Sociedad star on board for the rest of the season. The player agreed the deal and underwent a medical last week before returning to Spain while his work permit application was being processed.

As late as yesterday morning, Wanderers were saying they were confident there would be no hitches and expected something to develop today.

Allardyce was angry when he learned that he'd lost his man.

"He's decided to run off to Saudi Arabia," he announced.

"What we are faced with are country-hopping professionals who are willing to pack their bags and go wherever it takes to get what they want and unfortunately we have had one of those.

"A bigger and better offer has come from Saudi Arabia so we have lost out on a player."

Meanwhile, Wanderers were still waiting today for Mark Fish to put pen to paper on his new contract. The South African centre-back shook hands on the deal last Friday but is waiting for his agent to check out the details.