Leicester are targeting the France captain Thierry Dusautoir to boost their squad for next season, although the Tigers are likely to face serious competition from several Top 14 clubs to sign him.
Dusautoir, 33, has a contract with his current club Toulouse until the end of the season having spent eight years with them after joining from Biarritz. But despite Toulouse being keen to retain their captain and interest from other French clubs including Racing Métro, Leicester’s chief executive Simon Cohen has admitted he is attempting to lure the 33-year-old to Welford Road next season.
“We’ve talked to Thierry,”he told BBC Leicestershire. “Back row is an area we want to strengthen and there are some negotiations going on.”
Dusautoir has so far refused to be drawn on his next destination, telling French website Rugbyrama in an interview that all will be revealed soon.
He said: “When the decision is made, you will be aware. The clubs don’t put me under pressure, so I do not see why you [the press] have to.”
Dusautoir also wrote a column for the Huffington Post this week in reaction to the massacre of 12 people at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which he welcomed the decision for rugby grounds around France this weekend to hold a minute’s silence for the victims .
“What frightens me in the aftermath of this tragedy is that the terrorists also forced me to think through their act. They revolt me, make me want to say that my world is not like that,” he said.
“In the most rough rugby matches, it can happen to us to want to ‘punish’– as journalists say – an opponent because he is too strong, because it is painful. But at the end of the game, we shake hands. We respect. We go to the banquet together. Do not believe rivalries fade like magic. No, in some cases they remain. But we respect.
“And terrorists do not respect anyone. Not even what they stand for. They attack. They challenge. They murder.
“The minute of silence on our rugby fields this weekend, wanted by the Federation and the League will be our witness. I’m probably not more legitimate than others to speak today. But as captain of France’s rugby team and as a public figure, I will continue to defend the difference and fight for us to live together.”