Savea accepts pay cut to extend Toulon stay

NEWS: Former All Black wing Julian Savea has agreed to a pay cut in order to remain at Toulon.

According to reports in regional media outlet Varmartin, Savea has agreed to significantly lower his salary for the coming season.

If he proves himself, he should be offered a contract extension. Savea was paid over one million euro per season by the club, prior to the reported pay cut.

The player effectively confirmed the reports by Retweeting: “Looking forward to this season with @RCTofficiel. One more week of holiday break and then back into the grind.”

Looking forward to this season with @RCTofficiel One more week of holiday break and then back into the grind 🤘🏾💥 https://t.co/1fnK0b9S77

— Julian Savea (@juliansavea7) June 26, 2019

The pay cut comes after a season in which Savea came under fire by RCT owner Mourad Boudjellal, in which the controversial millionaire infamous said he wanted the hulking wing to undergo a DNA Test.

“I’m going to ask for a DNA test. It is not Savea that we recreated but ‘Savéapas’. They had to change it on the plane. If I were him, I would apologize and I would go home.

“When we reach this level of play, we must apologize and leave. I told him he was released and he was no longer welcome in Toulon!”

Boudjellal then told newspaper Le Parisien that: “I find his (Julian Savea) behaviour unacceptable. I went through the quarter-finals of the 2015 France-New Zealand World Cup and I always wonder if it’s the same player, the same man,” Boudjellal said.

“What I do not admit is that we pay him dearly. The negotiations have been very difficult, he has been very demanding and since he has been here, he is no longer. I can not think it’s normal for a player paid more than 1 million euros per year to go on holiday to Fiji for a month in December…he just had to attend his brother’s wedding, not take long leave,” he added.

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