Wales and Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit is reportedly the subject of transfer interest from France.
The lightning-fast Welshman has seen his stock skyrocket in recent years and has become one of the standout names on the Wales team sheet. His five tries during the Rugby World Cup saw his tally rise to 14 tries in 32 appearances for his country – and doing it on the big stage out in France has drawn some admiring eyes.
According to The Rugby Paper, scouts from Top 14 sides Bordeaux and Montpellier took a keen interest in the Welshman, with both clubs said to be looking to add a winger for the 2024/25 season.
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Should either of those sides prise Rees-Zammit away from Kingsholm it would be a blockbuster move for the youngster, who made his debut for the Cherry and Whites back in 2018 and has gone on to become one of the most box office players in the Gallagher Premiership since. He will line up against Exeter for his first start of the season this afternoon.
We have seen a growing number of players depart to France in recent years, with a number of Rees-Zammit's compatriot's already plying their trade out there. Will Rowlands and Regan Grace are at Racing 92, Henry Thomas is at Montpellier, Dan Biggar and Alun Wyn Jones, who played his last game on Saturday, are at Toulon, while Tomas Francis (Provence), Rhys Webb and Tyler Morgan (Biarritz), Ross Moriarty (Brive) and Sam Davies (Grenoble) are all playing in the second tier.
Just this week, Rees-Zammit's Wales backline partner George North was linked with a move to Provence, which you can read more about here. It appears to be an increasingly more lucrative and enticing pathway for Welsh players, particularly after the cap threshold for Welsh players being allowed to play abroad was lowered to 25.
Rees-Zammit has 32 Wales caps to his name, while he has already experienced a Lions tour, too, with now Wales boss Warren Gatland having selected him for the 2021 tour of South Africa. The 22-year-old, who was 20 at the time, was the youngest tourist in more than 60 years.
His star is in the ascendancy, though, with the Penarth-born pace merchant one of the Premiership's big names and Gloucester would doubtless be at pains to lose him.
