English rugby chiefs are confident of finding a way to keep Maro Itoje on home soil despite a raft of funding changes coming into force next season.
Talismanic England lock Itoje’s Saracens contract expires next summer, at the same time as Red Rose captain Owen Farrell’s current deal runs out.
The Gallagher Premiership salary cap will rise to £6.4million next season, but clubs will only be able to nominate one marquee player as opposed to two.
Marquee player wages fall outside the salary cap limits, but next term Farrell is likely to take that solitary slot at Saracens.
That would mean Itoje’s club wages coming under salary cap limits, and Saracens are thought to be concerned about how to meet the 29-year-old's demands in the new wage cap.
The RFU aims to usher in 25 hybrid contracts for top England stars for next season however, to top up the selected Test stars’ club pay packets.
The union’s move is aimed at keeping as many leading Red Rose players at English clubs as possible, and Itoje will be earmarked for one of the hybrid deals.
Itoje would be off limits for England should he move abroad, due to the RFU's policy of only selecting overseas-based players in exceptional circumstances.
The two-tier contracts should come into force next term as part of the Professional Game Partnership (PGP), the complex agreement between the RFU and England’s top clubs.
While top French and Japanese clubs will continue to circle around Itoje, the Saracens stalwart has struck vintage form for the north Londoners.
Itoje starred in Saracens’ brutal 38-10 dismantling of Harlequins at The Stoop on Saturday, leaving hooker Jamie George suitably impressed.
“He is back, he is back in a big way,” said George, of a rejuvenated Itoje.
“He’s as driven as he’s ever been. You can see it in the way he’s moving, you can see it in the way he’s talking.
“I don’t have enough superlatives for Maro. It’s scary how good he can be, and he keeps getting better. Goodness only knows how good he can be.”
