Dowson's repsonse to George Furbank exit rumours will worry Saints fans

Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson admits that George Furbank would be “insane” not to talk to Gallagher PREM rivals after being linked with a switch to Harlequins when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Furbank, who holds one of the £150k enhanced EPS contracts, has had a couple of meetings with Quins about a switch to the Twickenham Stoop this summer.

Exeter Chiefs are also reported to have enquired about England flyer Furbank, 29, but that Quins are in pole position if he does decide to leave Saints, who are hunting for trophies on multiple fronts this season.

But Dowson hopes that he will follow Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell, Alex Coles, and Fraser Dingwell, who have all re-signed, with the club in the couple of months, with Curtis Langdon set to join them.

“When players play really well, they become valuable, and when they become valuable, they become expensive, and their agents know that.

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“George Furbank and any other player who is out of contract would be insane not to talk to other clubs to find out what opportunities are out there.

“They have got to make a balanced decision about their future and what they are going to do this year, next year and after rugby. I see reports of him chatting to clubs, and that’s exactly what he should be doing.

“We will, of course, put our best foot forward. We want to keep George and all of our best players. In the same vein, we wanted to keep Dave Ribbans, Lewis Ludlam, Alex Moon and Temo Mayanavanua.

“Sometimes the offer from the outside will be better than the offer from the inside, in their opinion, and that is the tight rope we have to walk to keep the right people and support them in what they choose to do.

“We would love to keep George. He is a huge part of this club and has come right the way throughout the system. He is the epitome of everything we try to do in the way of development,” said Dowson.