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20th July 2017
11:12am BST

The 22-year-old lock excelled for the British & Irish Lions in New Zealand and was one of the best players on the park in the final two Tests. His stock definitely increased on the tour but Saracens have him contracted up until the summer of 2019.
The Rugby Paper reports that a rival Premiership side has already offered Itoje £850,000 to leave Sarries but they were rebuffed.
Saracens may opt to offer the England international a new, improved deal ahead of 2017/18 rather than have him run down his contract. Others would argue that Itoje may be better served seeing out another season before going back in to get a new deal next summer as the 2019 World Cup draws closer.
An 'industry insider' told the paper:
"Saracens are going to have to pay a lot of money to keep him. He will become the Premiership’s first million pound a year player and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him earning between £1.2 million and £1.3 million a year. "That could go even higher if he was to move to France where clubs would be falling over themselves to sign him."The negotiations, it seems, have already begun. The era of the €1m a season rugby player may not be far away.
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