RADHI Jaidi is on the verge of linking up with his old Wanderers team-mate, Bruno N'Gotty, at Birmingham City.

Sam Allardyce has confirmed he is ready to sell the Tunisian centre-back and already has a replacement in mind.

But Wanderers are refusing to respond to speculation that they are trying to sign Real Madrid's ex-England defender, Jonathan Woodgate, on an extended loan. The ex-Leeds United and Newcastle defender, currently attempting the latest in a series of comebacks from his two-year injury nightmare, has dropped even further down the Bernabeu pecking order following the arrival of Italy's World Cup winning captain, Fabio Cannavaro.

Newcastle are also reported to be keen but, despite his appearance in pre-season games including Real's scoreless drew with Fulham on Saturday, there are still serious doubts over Woodgate's long-term fitness.

There is no question that an injury-free Woodgate would be a major acquisition, but rehabilitating a player who has as spent so long battling thigh and back problems would be the biggest test yet for Wanderers' highly-rated backroom team.

Allardyce has, nevertheless, paved the way for Jaidi's exit.

Nicknamed "The Beast", when he first came onto the scene when he joined Wanderers on a free transfer from Esperance two summers ago, Jaidi fell out of favour last season, when he made only 23 starts, 15 in the Premiership. There has been much talk of him being unsettled since he made three appearances for Tunisia in the World Cup in Germany, with comments attributed to him that he would only be happy at the Reebok if he played regularly in the coming season.

That prospect appeared to be enhanced at the end of last season with the release of N'Gotty, who joined Bimringham earlier this month. But Allardyce is clearly not in a position to give him such assurances. He has recruited the Ivory Coast centre-back, Abdoulaye Meite from Marseille, to link up with the highly-rated and ever-improving Tal Ben Haim.

Despite confirming that there has been contact between the two clubs, the Bolton boss says it is too early to suggest a deal can be struck with Birmingham for Jaidi to be available to play alongside N'Gotty in Saturday's Championship opener at home to Colchester.

"It might be a possibility," he said. "If it's going to be a certainty, I'll let everybody know.

"There seems to be some interest there and we'll see how it develops. We've talked about it, but we've got to go a little further than that."

Allardyce, meanwhile, says he is working round the clock to recruit more players, principally a top-line striker a need that was underlined once more when Wanderers lost 2-0 in a friendly at Derby on Saturday.

"It's as busy as ever," he said. "The phone never stops ringing, 24:7 almost, but we can't quite clinch what we want."

One player Wanderers have checked out, the Argentine attacker Javier Saviola, has told Barcelona he would prefer to stay at the Nou Camp and see out the remaining year of his contract to qualify for a free transfer next summer.