REVEALED: Newcastle Red Bulls' next transfer targets

Newcastle Red Bulls have emerged as favourites to land England scrum-half Raffi Quirke as they continue to step up their spending splurge ahead of next season.

The Kingston Park outfit have announced the signings of the Exeter Chiefs pair Josh Hodges and Rusi Tuima, former All Black Hoskins Sotutu, and Puma lock Franco Molina.

Inside centre Will Rigg is expected to become the third signing from Devon outfit, along with Gloucester lock Cam Jordan and the Northampton Saints duo back row Sam Graham and Scotland tighthead Elliot Millar Mills.

Another Saints player, full-back James Pater, who is on a dual registration with Championship side Cambridge, is a target, as is Exeter Chiefs fly-half Will Haydon Wood and Harlequins and Scotland hooker George Turner.

And there were whispers before Christmas that they also had Hurricanes, Hawke’s Bay and Maori All Blacks loosehead Pouri Rakete-Stones on their shopping list.

Losing Quirke, who was part of Steve Borthwick’s England alignment camp at Pennyhill Park on Monday after demonstrating the form that earned him two caps, would be a blow for the ambitious Sharks.

“He was involved with England in the autumn because of injuries to Jack van Poortvliet and Harry Randall, but this time he is in their through merit because of how he has been performing for us in the last three or four weeks,” Sharks boss Alex Sanderson told RugbyPass this week.

“Finding form after injury after injury has been difficult for him and for us to get the best out of him, but it feels like we have got their again now.”

Meanwhile, Chiefs boss Rob Baxter said they did everything they could to keep Tuima, he expects the Red Bulls to be more competitive next season, given what they can spend.

“You would think quite quickly, they’ll be a more competitive team based on what they can spend. But the danger of Red Bull, I suppose, is that if they get all the other bits right,” Baxter said in his weekly media call.

“If you get all your academy structures right, you invest in the right areas, there around the coaching and around the facilities, those are the things that year on year will build a really strong side.

“So I expect the bigger influence of Red Bull to happen in, say, three years’ time than probably in year one, but we’ll have to wait and see.”