Leicester Tigers CEO Simon Cohen has said that Martin Castrogiovanni's proposed transfer to French giants Toulon is still far from a done deal.
Following rumours that the wealthy Top 14 side are looking to bring in the Italian international to their already strong front-row group, the Tigers are standing firm on getting the right price for a player who has another year left to run on his contract.
"We have always said that there needs to be two elements in place for any transfer to go ahead," Cohen told the Leicester Mercury on Tuesday.
"Firstly, we need a satisfactory transfer fee and, secondly, Martin Castrogiovanni needs to come to us and say that he wants to leave.
"We have had an initial and preliminary discussion with Toulon about a transfer fee and there is no agreement in place at this moment.
"We won't have a discussion with Martin Castrogiovanni about what he wants to do until an agreement is in place."
Leicester will face Toulon in their Heineken Cup quarter-final in April and Cohen added that if no deal is reached they would be delighted to keep hold of their Azzzurri prop next term.
"If we fail to reach an agreement with Toulon, then Martin Castrogiovanni will see out his contract with us," added Cohen.
"That would be excellent news for us because he is an extremely talented player and an icon at this club."
Comments
APV1 says...
@ chubbylugs - Cole has more facial hair than Castro. Does that count?
Posted 17:49 22nd January 2013
chubbylugs says...
@lawynd and carpelone
i dont doubt he is a good guy, but he's an overated scrummager, technically all over the shop in contact. brute strength will get you so far, but i just dont think he's as good as people perceive. he's great for the club in terms of marketing, but a lot of it is down to big hair IMHO
regarding achivements, dan cole is still young, with a good number of caps under his belt. but he's also been one of englands stand out players. he is nailed on for the lions 3 shirt assuming he stays fit. you can judge him better at the end of his career, but as it stands, he's a better scrummager and better player in the loose than castro has ever been. not as hairy though!
Posted 17:00 22nd January 2013
lawynd says...
Overrated? Crivens...you must have an incredibly lofty bar set, Chubbylugs.
Posted 15:24 22nd January 2013
carpelone says...
Overrated player? I do not know what you are talking about. When Dan Cole achieves half of what Castro achieved for Leicester, then we may speak again. He is not only a legend, but a nice and modest guy. His achievements are monstrous, given the fact that he has a quite long back for a prop.
Posted 14:44 22nd January 2013
sextons_on_fire says...
Whenever I look at Castrogiovanni the first thing I think is WHO ATE ALL THE PIES hahahahahahaha BOOM :D
Posted 14:12 22nd January 2013
5Lock4ward says...
Why would Castro want to leave a side where he's not getting regular starting minutes in favor of another team that could field 15 test match level props? It signals only that he's looking for the big pay-out to end his career on. You can't blame him I suppose but I'm never comfortable acknowledging how close money and hunger for competition and victory are on the importance scale.
Posted 13:55 22nd January 2013
BMakka8 says...
@Chubbylugs
He will go, we just need to make sure we get adequate recompense
Posted 12:39 22nd January 2013
lawynd says...
If Boudjellal wants Castro then it's simple - dig deep, sunshine.
Posted 12:14 22nd January 2013
Chubbylugs says...
One of the most over rated players in IMHO. Big personality gets him recognised on the field, but he is nothing on dan cole. Tigers would be sensible to get him off the wage bill
Posted 11:31 22nd January 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
They'll want to keep castro, and unlike George Ford, they'll be prepared to pay for him to stay.
Posted 09:38 22nd January 2013