England rugby union centre Manu Tuilagi has left his English club Leicester amid a club contract stand-off.
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The club's chief executive Andrea Pinchen confirmed that England stars Tuilagi and Kyle Eastmond, and also Telusa Veainu, Greg Bateman and Noel Reid have left the Tigers.
Leicester set their players a deadline of Tuesday evening local time to sign new deals on reduced terms, to reflect the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and also the upcoming salary cap reductions.
And British and Irish Lions star Tuilagi heads the cast-list of players who refused to accept the wage cuts, and have therefore left the east Midlands club.
Tuilagi has 43 England caps and one for the Lions, and is approaching his peak at 29.
The Samoa-born centre will be able to command a sizeable contract in either France or Japan, and his Leicester team-mate Veainu will doubtless be in similar demand.
Asked to name the departing players, Pinchen told Leicester's club website: "Our fans deserve to know: Manu Tuilagi, Telusa Veainu, Greg Bateman, Noel Reid and Kyle Eastmond."
Pinchen confirmed that some players were offered new contracts that "weren't acceptable to them."
Leicester revealed the pandemic has already cost them approximately STG5 million ($A9.0 million) in revenue and said they have been forced to make 31 staff redundant.
Australian Associated Press