Danny Cipriani to stay in England - star to be offered massive increase in current salary by Gloucester - reports

Danny Cipriani is set to be offered a new top-up contract by Gloucester – according to reports.

Sky Sports News are reporting that the star – who is currently out of favour with England head coach Eddie Jones – is set to be offered a new contract by Gloucester, despite the club denying he has a ‘break clause’ in his contract that would allow him to leave.

RugbyPass understands that Cipriani’s current contract is worth in the region of £190,000 to £200,000, a relatively modest wage for a flyhalf of his calibre and experience. Any new contract from Gloucester is likely to double that amount.

The England 10 has been linked with various lucrative moves to France and Japan – as well as being pursued by interests closer to home.

West country rivals Bath and Bristol were allegedly among the parties interested in Cipriani’s potential availability. However, last week Johan Ackermann insisted the play-maker, is going nowhere.

“I can only speak on my behalf and what I know and that is that he’s signed for next season,” said the South African to local Gloucester media during his weekly media session.

“I’m not aware of any release clauses so, according to me, Danny is here with us for the 2019-20 season. Post that I’m not quite sure, that’s an ongoing process with the club and with Danny.

“We have done our recruitment already and the squad is settled. When we talked about fly-half we said we’ve got Owen (Williams) and Danny settled and signed up.

“I’ve got no other information at the moment that is different, so I’m of the opinion that’s the fly-halves we’ll have available,” continued the coach who admitted that any talks with Cipriani are between the player and the club led by director of rugby David Humphreys, not Ackermann.

“When it comes to contracting, if the club feels they need to incorporate me and bring me in then I’ll get involved. But when it’s a financial decision it’s not me that must make the budget work. It’s up to the club to make that and that’s where the process is at the moment. It’s between Danny and the club for beyond next season.