Junior Kpoku, a key part of England Under-20s’ World Cup win in 2024, is keen to move to Sale and push for a spot in the senior squad before next year’s World Cup.
The 20-year-old, who can play in the back row and at lock, is at French side Racing 92, making him ineligible for selection by head coach Steve Borthwick.
However, Sale want to bring Kpoku back to England and add back-five physicality to their pack next season after failing in attempts to sign Leicester’s George Martin, who opted for Saracens, and Chandler Cunningham-South, who extended his contract with Harlequins.
“There’s a good chance he could come here, but nothing is agreed,” said Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson.
“That would be outstanding if we could snag him. He is some kind of an athlete.
“We were just doing some stats on him and he is in the top 10 for dominant carries, dominant tackles, out of all the second rows in the Top 14.
“That is as a 19/20-year-old and just shows the foundation of where he could get to.
“He is an international athlete and someone needs to make him into an international player. We feel like we are good at that.”
Any move for Kpoku is complicated by a contract which commits him to Racing until summer 2027.
But Sale, whose co-owner Simon Orange sold his investment business for a reported £1bn in January 2025, could strike an agreement to buy out the final season of Kpoku’s deal.
“There is still a transfer fee for anyone who wants to negotiate and we are duking it out with the big boys in France like La Rochelle,” said Sanderson.
“Fortunately, transfer fees don’t come into the salary cap so, as long as our owners are feeling generous and we feel he is a good prospect for our group, there is a good chance.”
Kpoku, who was born in London and joined Racing from Exeter in October 2023, is highly rated by England.
He took up an invite to train with the senior squad during last year’s Six Nations, and England’s hierarchy reportedly considered offering, external him one of their enhanced central contracts to ease his path back to the Prem.
Without a senior cap, Kpoku could become eligible for France on residency grounds if he remains in the Top 14, but he would prefer to play for England.
“France is not really what I want to pursue because it’s not my country,” he told BBC Sport in December 2024.
“I want to represent my own country, where I was born and raised.”
With Maro Itoje as captain, Martin, Northampton’s Alex Coles and Leicester’s Ollie Chessum are the leading candidates to partner him in the second row at the World Cup, which begins in Australia in September 2027.
