Gloucester line up England's Callum Chick to replace Zach Mercer

Gloucester have lined up Newcastle Falcons No.8 Callum Chick as their replacement for Zach Mercer, who is heading for the Kingsholm exit door and link up with Top 14 giants Toulon next season.

Chick has played over 130 times for the Falcons since joining their academy when he was 12 and was a member of the England side that won the 2016 World Rugby Under-20 Championship.

He won two England caps against the USA and Canada three years ago and then played against the Barbarians in 2022 and has had talks about moving to the West Country at the end of next season.

Chick, 27, signed a new two-year deal to stay with his hometown club in April 2023 after Alex Codling was appointed head coach, but the Cherry and Whites have put him at the top of their shopping list to replace Mercer.

Contrary to reports that it’s a done deal, RugbyPass understands that there is nothing yet agreed upon between Mercer and Toulon, but they are in advanced talks and edging closer towards a deal from the start of next season.

Mercer is keen to head back to France next season after not featuring for England under Steve Borthwick despite having another couple of years left to run on his contract, which will land cash-strapped Gloucester a much-needed windfall.

Despite him being close to a move to Toulon, it is known that a potential switch to Racing 92 isn’t dead in the water. They are still weighing up their options and have money to spend after Siya Kolisi’s return to the Sharks.

“Look, from my point of view, I don’t really want to talk too much about that. It’s common knowledge. There’s lots of teams would like to sign Zach and particularly from France.

“But I’d rather only talk about that when we have got something proper to talk about,” said Gloucester boss George Skivington when he spoke to the media last week.