Owen Farrell to Racing 92: French club denies reports that Saracens' English fly-half has agreed deal

Top 14 club distance themselves from claims 32-year-old is joining them

Racing 92 have denied England captain Owen Farrell is close to joining the Top 14 club.

The Saracens fly-half, who is missing the Six Nations to look after his mental heath, is reportedly poised for a move to France. Racing 92 are coached by former England chief Stuart Lancaster, who gave Farrell his international debut in 2012, but a Racing statement said: “Racing 92 is regularly under the aegis of numerous speculations concerning movements within its workforce. We are delighted with the appeal of our club Racing 92. However, we deny any agreement concerning the English player Owen Farrell.”

Farrell became England’s leading points scorer at the World Cup and is reportedly out of contract at Saracens at the end of the season. The 32-year-old has spent all of his career at the club but could now make a surprise move to France. He has also given England coach Steve Borthwick no indication he plans to return. Farrell is also likely to be unavailable for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand. Any move to France would make Farrell ineligible for England under the current selection policy which rules out players who ply their trade abroad.

Owen Farrell has taken a break from England duties.

“We are all hopeful Owen will return to the England team at some point soon, but that’s going to be a decision Owen makes,” Borthwick said. “Owen and I spoke right at the end of the World Cup. We were actually in Paris. We took a walk and he shared some of his thoughts and what he was thinking at that point in time. Then he took a period of reflecting and we met a couple of weeks later and he told me of his decision to step away. He expressed some of his feelings, which is clearly a confidential conversation. The first thing I’ll say there is I’m full of admiration for this guy – as a man, a player and a leader. It takes a lot of courage to do what he’s done.”