The 32-year-old has been told he can leave Chelsea after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge.
Anelka has recently been linked with the likes of Paris St Germain and Russian giants Anzhi.
Big Sam said: “If Nicolas is available, I’d be massively interested. I’ve not contacted Chelsea and am just looking at the situation with January looming.
“It would be an end-of- season pursuit rather than next month. We need to get into the Premier League — and then we’d have a better chance of signing someone of Nicolas’ quality.”
