Manu Tuilagi made a forlorn attempt to save his Leicester career before the Tigers confirmed his departure on Friday after ten eventful seasons.
The England centre made a last-minute plea for reinstatement but without making any concession towards settling his pay dispute.
“Manu wanted to come back,'' a Tigers' source told The Rugby Paper. “But he wanted to come back on the same terms which we had rejected. We only want people at the Tigers who really want to play for the shirt.
“Our decision will have come as a shock to him. Maybe Manu thought we would cave in but the financial crisis facing the game throughout England and beyond made that impossible.
“We are all losing ridiculous amounts of money. Therefore, we had no option but to make a stand which is important going forward. It's a reminder of an old tradition at Leicester Tigers, that no individual is bigger than the club. That means as much now as it did in the days of Dean Richards and before that.
“We are all very sad it has ended liked this. Over the years we as a club have done everything we could to help Manu over various problems he faced during his time with us.''
Tuilagi had been given a July 1 deadline to agree to a 25 per cent cut in his salary, understood to have been £500,000-a-year. When he and four other players failed to agree before the July 1 deadline, the club announced that all five had been ‘stood down.'
Two of the five, Tongan full-back Telusa Veainu and Irish centre Noel Reid, agreed deals with Stade Francais and Albi respectively. Tuilagi is believed to be the only one called the club asking: ‘Can I have my job back?'
Since his debut ten years ago, Tuilagi has made 96 Premiership appearances and 32 in Europe. While he averaged 15 matches per season over the first four years, the average over the last six seasons had dropped to below ten, prompting Leicester to wonder whether they were getting value.
As the club game prepares for next month's scheduled restart, another major club has warned of dire financial consequences for players across the Premiership.
“Players on or around £300,000-a-year will find out very soon that from next season they will be worth £120,000 – at the very most,'' one club chairman said. “What's happening at Leicester is only the tip of a very nasty iceberg.
“The cut in the salary cap from £6.4m to £5m means that loads of players at clubs like Wasps, Worcester, Gloucester and London Irish are available. We have told the agents involved: ‘You need to realise what's happening all around the world.'
“There is a general feeling that some agents haven't helped the players very much in terms of spelling out the realities.''
Manu Tuilagi statement issued via Sale Sharks
“I would like to take his opportunity to convey our thanks to everybody at Leicester Tigers for all their love and support for the past 11 years.
“I am very grateful for all the support and friendship from the coaches and all the staff at the club. But even more so the remarkable supporters who make the Tigers such a unique, special club.
“It has been an enormous honour and privilege for me and my family to be a part of one of the greatest rugby clubs in the world, and the Tigers have always been so special to myself and my brothers for the past 20 years.
“I wish for nothing but the best for our Tigers family going forward.”
