Alex Sanderson breaks silence on Junior Kpoku move with one setback

Alex Sanderson is planning to ask Sale Sharks’ owners, Simon and Michelle Orange and Ged Mason, to dig deep to finance a rare transfer fee for England national U20 Junior Kpoku in order to bring him back to the Gallagher PREM next season.

The Sharks have been sniffing around the Racing 92 lock, who was the star of England’s 2024 U20 World Cup-winning squad in South Africa for the past 12 months, but they could finally be in a position to secure their man.

Whispers from France suggest that 6ft 8in Kpoku, 20, who also plays in the back-row but has played only five times this season, is surplus to requirements at La Défense Arena despite being under contract until 2027.

The sticking point is that Ciel-et-Blanc want a fee for a player they signed from Exeter Chiefs in October 2023, who left Devon after only a couple of months due to family reasons.

And even though La Rochelle have expressed an interest in seeing him play at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre next season, the Sharks are the favourites with the help of Orange’s cheque book.

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“What a talent he would be. It would be outstanding if we could snag him. We have been trying to understand what his route back into England would be like. He is JIFF-qualified at the end of his year, and there is still a transfer fee.

“And we are duking it out with the big boys in France, La Rochelle and stuff. Fortunately, transfer fees don’t come into the salary cap. So as long as our owners are feeling generous and we feel he is a good prospect for this group.

“There is a good chance he could come here. Nothing is agreed, and obviously, we have been that close on so many occasions without anything happening to pre-empt saying it would probably jinx the whole operation.

“He is some athlete. He were doing stats on him like like I’m sure everyone knows, and he was top 10 in the whole of the Top 14 for tackle dominance, carry dominance, all of that from a 19-20 year old.

“It just shows the foundation of where he could get to. He is an international athlete, and someone needs to make him into an international player, and we feel that we are good at that,” said Sanderson.