England centre signed with Sale on Monday after failing to agree salary reduction with Leicester amid financial struggles caused by the coronavirus pandemic
Tuesday 14 July 2020 17:55, UK
Manu Tuilagi believes his arrival at Sale Sharks can help them "do something special" by winning the Premiership title season.
The England centre signed with Sale on Monday after failing to agree a salary reduction with Leicester amid financial struggles caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sale were second in the Premiership when the season was suspended March and will resume five points behind leaders Exeter when matches restart on August 14.
Asked whether the aim is to win the domestic title this season, Tuilagi told Sky Sports News: "Yeah and you can see that the way Sale are playing, where Sale are in the league. They want to do something special.
"For me coming over here hopefully I can add something to the team. Sale have had a good run and hopefully me joining can carry that on."
As a result of staying in the Premiership, Tuilagi will remain eligible to represent his country, but the 29-year-old says England head coach Eddie Jones was more concerned about the player's happiness than international availability.
Asked if he had consulted Jones when making his decision, Tuilagi said: "One hundred per cent. I always speak to Eddie.
"He's been good to me, he's been kind to me. With Eddie, he said 'look it's your decision, you've got to do what's best for your family.'"
While Tuilagi refused to speak to Sky Sports News about his former club Leicester, the Samoan-born centre did provide a statement thanking the Tigers for his time with them.
The club's chief executive Andrea Pinchen confirmed earlier in July Tuilagi - and four other Leicester players - had left the club after failing to agree to a 25 per cent wage reduction, but insisted there was no "blame game" being played.
"I would like to take this opportunity to convey our thanks to everybody at Leicester Tigers for all their love and support for the past 11 years," Tuilagi's statement read.
"I am very grateful for all the support and friendship from the coaches and all the staff at the club, but even more so to the remarkable supporters who make the Tigers such a unique special club!
"It has been an enormous honour and privilege for me and my family to be part of the history of one of the greatest Rugby Clubs in the World and the Tigers has always been so special to myself and my brothers, for the past 20 years.
"I wish for nothing but the best for our Tigers Family going forward. Everyone has their own pathway in life and I am excited to see what the future holds."
Sale director or rugby and interim chief executive Steve Diamond confirmed Tuilagi will be earning a reduced salary with the Sharks but did not share further financial details of the player's contract.
"When he became available, I chatted to him last Friday and he sounded keen," Diamond told Sky Sports News.
"I was very direct with him. I told him how we operate, told him what we expect from him.
"As long as I knew that we were able to talk to him, then we put a sensible proposition to him that he readily accepted.
"He came to us on a reduced amount and the reduced amount was because of the Covid problem. We got to a point where he was happy, his advisers were happy, and we were happy, and he's accepted it."
