Manu Tuilagi is going nowhere, insist Leicester Tigers, as Super League's Toronto Wolfpack fix him in their sights

Leicester have warned Toronto Wolfpack they will reject any big-money offers for England centre Manu Tuilagi from the promoted Super League club.

Telegraph Sportrevealed Toronto had identified Samoa-born Tuilagi as their next high-profile target after lining up Sonny Bill Williams on a lucrative two-year deal.

Williams is expected to be confirmed as a Toronto player shortly and handed a stake in the Canadian outfit, but the Wolfpack have also fixed their sights on 28-year-old Tuilagi.

Former England centre Ben Te’o is another player to have come on the Wolfpack’s radar, but Tuilagi is contracted to Leicester until June 2021. He signed a new deal at Welford Road this year after shunning advances from Top 14 side Racing 92.

Significantly, however, Tuilagi said in a recent interview that the 2019 World Cup would probably be his last in rugby union.

“Probably not, I’ll be too old,” Tuilagi said when asked about being involved in 2023, raising the prospect of exploring a new opportunity elsewhere.

Yet Simon Cohen, the Leicester chief executive, insists the player will not be allowed to leave before the end of his contract. “Manu has been an integral part of the Leicester Tigers family for some time, having come through the academy here,” he said.

“He’s a world-class player and every time he has come out of contract there have been significant offers for him. We are very grateful that he has always chosen to stay with us, because he’s an important part of what we are trying to do. There are no circumstances in which we would sell him.”

Denny Solomona, the Sale winger, resigned from his contract at Super League outfit Castleford Tigers to make a cross-code switch to the Premiership club almost three years ago.

That sparked a legal dispute that ended when Castleford accepted a settlement in excess of £200,000 from Sale.

Leicester, though, say they will not entertain any offers for Tuilagi and Cohen warned Toronto against making any advances.

“If Toronto Wolfpack make an approach for Manu without our permission – and under no circumstances would they get it – they would be attempting to induce a breach of contract,” he said. “We would obviously react accordingly.”