He hasn’t donned a Wallabies jersey since 2011, but Matt Giteau is on the verge of becoming the world’s highest paid rugby star.
Giteau bailed on the Brumbies three years ago in favour of a move to French club Toulon and is now in line to receive a ridiculous €1 million ($1.4 million) a year deal from Paris-based club Racing Metro.
According to French newspaper Midi Olympique, Giteau is at the centre of a bidding war and Racing has their eyes set on the 31-year-old Aussie to replace departing Irish flyhalf Jonathan Sexton at the end of the 2014-15 season.
Giteau has established himself as one of the country’s top performers after leaving Australia in 2011 following a fallout with then Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, however 2014 Heineken Cup winner Toulon may have a battle ahead in order to retain 92-time Australian international.
“It’s all part of the game,” Toulon president and owner Mourad Boudjellal told French newspaper La Provence of rugby’s most interesting bidding war.
“If you don’t want people to make offers to your players, all you have to do is recruit bad ones and losers.
“So this type of situation doesn’t pose a problem to me. I’m not at all upset.
“Matt is evidently a player who we hope to keep, but not at any price.”
Toulon and Boudjellal have now made Australian headlines for the second time in the span of week after the club announced another former Wallaby, the under contract, James O’Connor will return to the France after a brief stint in Australia.
The Queensland Reds are believed to have signed the 24-year-old star to a two-year deal, however Boudjellal last week claimed otherwise, saying O’Connor will return to France after next year’s Rugby World Cup.
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