Leicester lock to exit club this summer?

Following the signing of Will Spencer last week, Leicester Tigers could be preparing to lose Dom Barrow come the summer, with Sale Sharks understood to be keen on the lock.

Barrow reportedly had a training ground altercation with club captain Tom Youngs earlier in the season and the relationship maintains fractured between the pair.

RugbyPass understand that Sale and Steve Diamond were keen to capitalise upon that and were interested in making Barrow a mid-season acquisition, much as they did with Marland Yarde when he encountered discipline problems of his own with Harlequins.

Leicester were reluctant to allow Barrow to leave, however, with the club undergoing an injury crisis in the second-row and in desperate need of more resources at the position.

Barrow is a former England U20 representative, who was part of the Junior World Championship-winning side of 2013, playing alongside the likes of Anthony Watson, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie. He followed up success at the competition with a move to Newcastle Falcons from Yorkshire Carnegie, where he impressed for two seasons and earned a move south to Leicester.

The 24-year-old is known for his work rate and uncompromising style of play on the pitch and could still be of interest to Sale in the summer, whose second-row stocks are far from overflowing and both Andrei Ostrikov and Bryn Evans in their 30’s.

Should Sale reignite their interest and lure Barrow north, the lock would complete the triad of prominent northernmost clubs in the country, adding Sale to Newcastle and Yorkshire on his resume.

Diamond is not afraid to take a risk on players who have chequered pasts, either, having signed Yarde earlier this season, as well as bringing in the likes of Danny Cipriani and James O’Connor in recent years.