Premiership Side Admit They Will Try Sign Sonny Bill Williams When His Contract Is Up

Sale Sharks have admitted they recently made an audacious attempt to sign Sonny Bill Williams.

A report from Sportsmail last week suggested the Manchester side contacted Williams’ representatives through a third party about a potential move to the Premiership, with Sale boss Steve Diamond confirming this was the case.

The move however, was quickly rejected as Williams plans on honouring his current contract, which expires after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Diamond says they will make another approach once Williams’ contract is up.

‘We’re obviously interested in all players of that ability,’ Diamond told BBC Radio Manchester.

‘Under the new ownership we’re talking to various brokers around the world and he would fit in well here.

‘We made contact but he’s contracted [with the NZRU] for another 18 months so we’ll take up the conversation after that.

‘I think that we want to be at the top and up at the top four challenging the play-offs so we’ve got to bring the quality that we desire.

‘We’ve got a fantastic youth setup that everyone knows about but we’ve got to interject that with a bit of world-class player ability in that and there’s no better than Sonny Bill.’

Sportsmail are also reporting that two other English clubs, one based in London, have asked early questions about the back’s availability in 2019, with the centre previously stating he would like to play in England before he retires.