Northampton Saints will pay £250k to sign big George North

Northampton Saints have offered the Scarlets £250,000 for George North and the deal could be completed within the next seven days.
It would be the biggest Anglo-Welsh transfer since the WRU splashed out £750,000 for Iestyn Harris' switch from Leeds Rhinos.
The Scarlets are understood to have wanted £300,000 for the Wales wing whose contract with the region has a season to run.
Northampton made their offer following inquiries by  Stade Francais and Racing Metro who have already signed Jonny Sexton, Jamie Roberts and Danny Lydiate.
North, 20, who has family connections in Northampton, is believed to have been in the East Midlands for talks with his prospective new English employers.
North's departure is another sign of the predicament facing the four Welsh regional teams. They produce international players, pay more than £200,000-a-year to keep the most valuable and then lose them for large chunks of the season.
North is a classic example of a player who, over the course of three seasons in first-class rugby, has played almost as often for Wales as he has for the Scarlets.
He has played 31 Tests for Wales since his debut against South Africa in November 2010.  Over roughly the same period he has started 34 competitive matches for his region.
With the regional game in dire financial straights, the Scarlets have to take a business decision – sell North now and get hefty compensation by rugby transfer standards or keep him for another season and watch him leave without as much as a brass farthing.
“George doesn't play that much rugby for the Scarlets,” an insider said. “If they keep him to his contract and he walks away at the end of next season, the club get nothing. That's the reality. It's no different to the way it works in soccer.
“None of the regions is in a position to turn down the sort of offer North-ampton have made for George. It's the same old question – what sort of a return do you get for your money from the current international players?
“It's a real worry when big English and French clubs are coming in for Welsh players as young as 20 or 21. Welsh rugby's in a mess and there's still no sign of an agreement between the Union and the regions on the best way forward.
“Unless they find a solution, then the consequences are going to be catastrophic.   In just over 12 months time, about three-quarters of the Wales squad will be out of contract with their regions.
“Unless something is sorted out, we will end up feeding players to the French and English markets.”
As a certainty for the Lions tour, North will earn his employers £50,000 as compensation per club over the release of players for the three-Test series against the Wallabies in Australia this summer.
If North is a registered Northampton player when the party leaves at the end of May, they will claim the compensation unless the Scarlets succeed in a contractual clause guaranteeing them the money.
The real worry is that it may be just the tip of an iceberg.
The richer French clubs will be tempted to follow suit and pay similar transfer fees in the hope of tempting Cardiff Blues to sell their two most valuable assets – Leigh Halfpenny and Alex Cuthbert. Neither is out of contract until the end of next season, just like North.
PETER JACKSON