Wales and Ospreys fly-half Gareth Anscombe is reportedly a target for French club Pau.
The Top 14 outfit are set to lose their first-choice No. 10 Zack Henry to Stade Francais and have been searching for a replacement.
Midi Olympique say the club are in ‘advanced contact’ with Anscombe, who is out of contract at the end of the season.
The 31-year-old is currently sidelined after suffering a shoulder injury playing for Wales against Australia, with the problem casting doubt on whether he’ll play any part in the Six Nations.
But he’s a player of proven quality and the uncertain environment for players in Wales is not exactly an incentive for any player to stick around., a point picked up on by Midi Olympique who say "like all his Welsh counterparts [Anscombe] is tempted by an exile abroad, due to the uncertainty hovering over the future contracts" allocated to Wales players.
A move abroad would make him ineligible for Wales under the rule that prevents certain exiled players from pulling on the red jersey if they have fewer than 60 caps. Anscombe has played in 35 Tests, well below the threshold.
WalesOnline revealed in June that he was believed to be pondering a big-money move after the 2023 World Cup, with France and Japan among his likeliest destinations.
Pau would presumably want assurances over his troublesome shoulder.
Anscombe joined the Ospreys in 2019 but his time with the south-west Wales region has been stop-start, with a serious knee injury seeing him spend more than two years on the sidelines and this season he has endured a rib problem before his shoulder knock.
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