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Owen Farrell 'very close' to signing two-year Racing 92 deal – report
By Liam Heagney
Hopes that Owen Farrell will return to the international fold with England later this year are reportedly poised to be dashed by him committing to a two-year deal to play his club rugby in the French Top 14.
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The Test-level skipper has taken a sabbatical from Steve Borthwick’s squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations tournament.
However, on foot of Borthwick explaining on Thursday at Twickenham why the Test break for Farrell had come about, it has now emerged that the 32-year-old could soon make himself ineligible for an England comeback.
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Rather than stay on at Saracens for the 2024/25 season, Midi Olympique, the French rugby newspaper, have reported that Farrell is considering a deal to quit Mark McCall’s side and instead join ex-England boss Stuart Lancaster at Racing 92.
Farrell is out of contract at the end of the 2023/24 season with the London club that he has represented for his entire professional career.
Lancaster joined Racing last summer from Leinster and the coach is now looking for Farrell to join a club that already has the Rugby World Cup-winning Siya Kolisi on its roster along with Henry Arundell, one of Farrell’s England teammates at France 2023.
The Midi Olympique report read: “Racing 92 are on the verge of hitting hard in the transfer market. According to our sources, England fly-half Owen Farrell would indeed be very close to committing for the next two years with the Hauts-de-Seine entity, the current leader of the Top 14.
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“With a profile like Farrell’s, the club of Jacky Lorenzetti and Laurent Travers proves, only a few months after signing the captain of the South African Siya Kolisi, that it remains attractive to say the least in the eyes of the big names of the international circuit.
“In support of Antoine Gibert, Tristan Tedder and Martin Meliande, and alongside Nolann Le Garrec at the back, Farrell (32 years old, 112 caps and 1,237 points scored with England) will bring a little more depth to a team whose last major title dates back to the spring of 2016.
“By grafting the talent of Owen Farrell to his squad, manager Stuart Lancaster is now taking advantage of the events, assumed or suffered, that have made the news of the Ile-de-France club over the past two seasons.
“In the Hauts-de-Seine, the departure to Bath of Finn Russell, one of the highest-paid players in the last Top 14, has already made a considerable place in the club’s wage bill, as has the unwanted one of Virimi Vakatawa in England (he now plays for Bristol).
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“And that’s not all: in the 92nd, the probable career end of the French international Bernard Le Roux, victim of a series of concussions, combined with the possible departure of the Argentine international Juan Imhoff (35 years old) as well as the recruitment of several players in the process of development (the Clermont hooker Robin Couly, for example) have also allowed the Ile-de-France leaders to limit a salary cap set at €10.7million per Top 14 club.
“On the subject of the salary cap and these honourable constraints, it should be noted, finally, that Siya Kolisi’s remuneration would not exceed €400,000 per year.
“At a time when competition from the Japanese League One is becoming more insistent, Farrell’s imminent arrival in the Top 14 proves that it is still very far from having given up its title of ‘best league in the world’.”
The Alex Sanderson verdict on the winter form of George Ford at Sale just four weeks out from the start of the Guinness Six Nations with England. #GallagherPrem #SALvNEW #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/CDbTLIwHQm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 5, 2024
Many England fans hoping and praying this is going to happen. It's time to turn the page.
If I had a Euro for every time Midi Olympique reported a player transfer that turned out to be bunk, I'd have a decent piggy bank.