Exclusive: World Cup winner Thompson set for exit if Leeds fail to beat drop

Wasps are at the front of a queue of clubs chasing the World Cup winner and are believed to have spoken to Leeds about activating a release clause in the two-year contract he signed on joining the club last summer.

The details of the contract have not been made public, but it is understood that if Leeds fail to achieve survival – which is now out of their hands and could be all over on Saturday if Newcastle earn a bonus-point win over Bath – then the experienced front-row forward will be allowed to leave.

Sale – who have already tempted Luther Burrell and Kearnan Myall across the Pennines for next season – are also thought to be interested in the 32-year-old.

“There has been an approach for Steve Thompson,” confirmed Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington.

“We are going to be meeting with him in the next couple of days to see exactly where he’s at with it.

“Relegation has a devastating affect on players, fans, officials and everyone at the club.

“It’s perfectly understandable and inevitable that players will look to whatever is best for themselves, especially the better quality players.”

Thompson’s England team-mate Hendre Fourie is another expected to attract interest, and although Gloucester have been linked with the South Africa-born flanker, Hetherington said there has been no approach.

Like Thompson, Fourie is contracted to the club until the end of next season, and having played for Leeds for four years has a greater affinity to what the people behind the scenes are trying to build.

Yet at 31 and having broken into the international fold over the last 12 months, Fourie is eager to earn his place on the flight to New Zealand for the World Cup in September.

Playing for Leeds in the Championship would only diminish his chances of representing England in the World Cup.

Whether or not head coach Neil Back decides to, or is asked to, see out the remaining year of his contract could be another issue for the club to determine as the financial hardship relegation would bring continues to hit home.

Back is arguably the club’s most bankable asset with his stock having risen over his three years with the club.

The season’s travails will not reflect too badly on him, especially if he manages to pull off a second great escape. It is widespread knowledge that Leeds have the smallest budget in the division and although that was extended to a club record £4.5m this season – £3m of which was spent on player salaries – the gulf in talent that kitty can acquire was exposed by Harlequins last weekend.

Back has invested heart and soul into the Leeds project but, with Wasps searching for a director of rugby for next season and a head coach vacancy likely to be appearing at Bath under his old Lions mentor Ian McGeechan, there will be no shortage of bigger Premiership opportunities for such a highly-regarded professional.

From Leeds’s point of view, with debts having risen to nearly £2m and the need for those to be paid, losing their most high-profile figure would at least remove a chunk from their staff budget.

They have already shown in dispensing with the services of Andy Key in February, which was effectively a redundancy of the director of rugby role to reallocate finances into the playing budget, that they are not afraid to make decisions for the benefit of the business.

Hetherington would not discuss the futures of Back or Fourie, but was forceful in making the point that safeguarding the future of the club was their primary goal.

“I’m keen not to focus on individuals, whether it be a player or staff,” he said. “We are looking at next season from a strategic point of view. And until there’s a bit of certainty about which division we are playing in next season, we won’t make any certain plans.”

Should they fall into the Championship, Leeds’s attempts to clear their debt will be aided by parachute money from the RFU of £2.6m.

That financial safety net only lasts for one year. If they fail to bounce back at the first attempt they will receive just £300,000 in central funding along with the rest of their Championship counterparts. As Bristol have proven, missing out on an instant return has almost catastrophic repercussions with their defeat to Exeter in last season’s play-off final leading to a near financial meltdown and a season flirting with relegation to the third tier.

“That parachute money is critical,” said Hetherington, who is not clinging to the hope that Worcester will be beaten to promotion next month by one of the other three play-off teams who do not meet the entry criteria, therefore sparing Leeds from the drop.

“We have got £2m-worth of players contracted for next season, so at least we are retaining a big number of players. We are in a difficult situation but it is not one that is insurmountable. We will develop a strategy to deal with whatever the outcome is.”

Exeter have been deducted two points and fined £5,000 after fielding too many overseas players against Leeds last month. Premiership clubs are only allowed to include two players from outside Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific islands in their 23-man match-day squads, but the Chiefs used three in the 27-22 defeat at Headingley.