Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill has revealed that Mathew Tait could still remain at the club beyond the end of the current season.
The 29-year-old agreed a deal to join French side Bayonne in January, but financial difficulties for the Top 14 club and a potential merger with rivals Biarritz have cast doubt over his move across the Channel.
Cockerill revealed that he would be interested in pursuing any opportunity to keep the 38-capped England international, pointing to a similar situation with Niki Goneva last season.
"I think that's far from getting to a conclusion yet with Bayonne. There's a possibility that he may well stay. It's a wait-and-see but it's not a dead duck," Cockerill is quoted as saying by PA.
"If there's an opportunity to keep him here we would pursue that. Taity's been very good for us, he's a good leader, he's got a lot of experience and he's stayed fit and been pretty robust.
"We had similar issues with Niki Goneva with Castres last year, who signed a contract there but eventually stayed: to all intents and purposes Niki is still contracted to Castres, but he hasn't played for them yet."
Leicester face Bath in the semi-finals of the Aviva Premiership this Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
