HARRY Redknapp will seek assurances he can attempt to rewrite his own history if Liverpool land Saints ace Peter Crouch.

The European Champions League finalists are reported to have joined an ever-increasing list of admirers for the man who belted 16 goals in 2004/05 and won an England call-up for next week's tour of the USA as a result.

Kop boss Rafael Benetiz is a known admirer of Crouch, but has targeted Feyernoord's Dutch international Dirk Kuyt as his No 1 summer striking priority.

But if Liverpool were to lose to Milan in next Wednesday's Champions League final, then

Benetiz would have fewer financial muscles to flex this summer and so could therefore turn to Crouch.

Crouch has also been linked with Manchester City and Bolton in recent weeks, with Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce a confirmed fan of the 6ft 7in striker.

And the Daily Echo understands that Blackburn could be keen on making a £5m move for BOTH Crouch and Kevin Phillips.

Rovers do have that sort of money available and are desperate to sign two strikers this summer.

And Phillips has always made no secret of the fact he likes to play alongside a 'big' target man - which is how he made his name alongside Niall Quinn at Sunderland.

Redknapp has publicly admitted that Saints cannot afford to lose Crouch if they are serious about getting back into the Premiership as quickly as possible.

But the manager will know that, with Crouch's wages having been halved in the wake of relegation, the club will struggle to hold onto the player if Liverpool make a formal bid.

Redknapp, then, will ask chairman Rupert Lowe to ensure that a large part of any transfer fee is ploughed straight back into team building.

They are the sort of assurances the manager is believed to want before committing his future to Saints.

Crouch was sold to Aston Villa in March 2002 for £5m, just two days after Redknapp had taken over at Portsmouth following Graham Rix's sacking.

Using the proceeds from that sale, Redknapp brought in a host of players and led Pompey into the Premiership just over a year later.

Just under £2m in total went on buying Svetoslav Todorov (£750,000), Eddie Howe (£400,000), Hayden Foxe (£400,000), Matt Taylor (£400,000) and Richard Hughes (£50,000).

The rest of the Crouch money went towards wages for free transfer signings such as Arjan De Zeeuw, Shaka Hislop, Carl Robinson, Paul Merson, Gianluca Festa, Steve Stone and Tim Sherwood (Spurs).

Allardyce said: "I don't know if Crouch is out of our range.

"It depends how many clubs are after him and how desperate Southampton are to get rid of him, or if they can afford to keep him.

"If I was the manager of Southampton I'd be asking the chairman on bended knees to get Crouch to give me one year to get me back in the Premiership.

"If they keep him, he'll get them back up based on his success rate.

"I've been interested in him for a number of years but we've never had the opportunity to move in and get him."

Should Bolton succeed in landing top strike target El Hadji-Diouf from Liverpool, it is doubtful whether they could afford to bid more than the £2m Saints paid Villa for Crouch last summer.