JONNY Wilkinson has moved a step closer to leaving Newcastle Falcons after Toulon’s incoming director of rugby Phillipe Saint-Andre confirmed his new employers were in talks with the flyhalf’s representatives.

And while Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal admits a contract is yet to signed, he is hoping to secure the services of a player he describes as “the Michael Jackson of rugby”.

Wilkinson, who turned professional with Falcons in 1997, has been linked with a move to France’s Super 14 throughout the second half of the season, but yesterday’s comments represent the first acknowledgement of official contact with an overseas club.

The England international, who has not played for Newcastle since injuring his knee against Gloucester on September 30, is not expected to feature in the final two matches of the Guinness Premiership season.

So with Saint-Andre, who is leaving Sale Sharks to take over at Toulon in the summer, having confirmed his desire to work with Wilkinson, the 29- year-old could already have made his final appearance in a Falcons shirt.

“Jonny’s people are in talks with the Toulon chairman,”

said Saint-Andre. “I would obviously like to have as many good players as possible next season and Jonny is a topquality player.

“I have heard that a couple of other French clubs are in for him, and there is also of course the option for him to stay at Newcastle.”

Wilkinson’s agent, Tim Buttimore, last night described talks with Toulon as “ongoing”, and the World Cup winner now looks likely to follow in the footsteps of Riki Flutey, James Haskell and Tom Palmer to become the latest England international to cross the Channel.

Boudjellal admits there is still work to be done before a transfer is sealed, but the Toulon chief feels Wilkinson’s potential pulling power is not in doubt.

“Wilkinson already at Toulon, it is anything but a done deal,” he said. “But if we manage to get this player, it will be something enormous.

He is an unbelievable player.

“When you sign a player, zero risk does not exist. So for next season, Wilkinson has as much chance of getting injured as any other player.”

If confirmed, Wilkinson’s departure would leave a major hole in the Falcons squad despite Tom May’s sudden emergence as a high-quality fly-half.

Wilkinson would become the fourth senior player to sign a contract away from Kingston Park this month, but while skipper Phil Dowson has joined David Wilson and Geoff Parling on the departure list, director of rugby Steve Bates remains happy with the way his squad redevelopment is going.

“I am very comfortable with where we are right now in terms of our recruitment and retention process,” said the Falcons boss. “We have very good replacements coming in for the guys who are leaving, and I’m excited about next season already.

“Phil has had a very, very good offer from Northampton, and it’s a great opportunity for him to experience something different. He has been here for a long time, he still has aspirations of pushing on to the international stage and we have spoken a lot about it over the past few months.

“Ultimately, the decision has been that he will join Northampton, and hopefully that will give him the impetus and stimulus to potentially take him in to the Test reckoning.

“It’s the nature of professional sport that people move on, but there has not been a falling out with any players.

We have a great relationship.

“And just as there are players leaving Newcastle, there are players joining Newcastle, and everyone at the club is excited by the quality of these guys and what they will add next season.”

Bates is hoping to confirm some new arrivals before the end of the current campaign, and with Mathew Tait, Toby Flood and Lee Dickson all having left the North-East last summer, the Newcastle chief has moved quickly to quash suggestions that the Falcons are now a selling club.

“People can point to the players that left last year,” he said. “But as we explained at the time there were very specific reasons for all of those.

“We have announced a whole swathe of contract renewals over the past few weeks, most of the players we wanted to stay have committed despite having offers from elsewhere, and in addition we are bringing in a number of quality additions to the squad.

“That process takes time, but we are making very positive inroads and completing the finer points on some of these right now.”