Rugby League: Northampton Entice Wigan's Chris Ashton to Switch Codes

Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay today revealed that young full-back Chris Ashton has been offered £140,000 a year to switch to rugby union.

The England international, who turns 20 later this month, is out of contract at the end of the year and is thought to have agreed a three-year deal with Northampton, dependent on them avoiding relegation from the Premiership.

Lindsay said Ashton was offered a new two-year deal to stay in Super League but admitted they could not match Northampton's wages because of the salary cap. "We were rocked to learn from Chris's agent Andrew Clarke that he has been offered £140,000 a year by Northampton," he told the Wigan Evening Post.

"For us to beat that would make him our highest-paid player - and that's not right for such a young man still making his way in the game," he added. "It would bust the salary cap wide open, would not be fair to our more experienced and senior players and would destabilise our wage structure at the club. I also think that to go into rugby union now is a mistake for Chris and that he is rushing into it."

Ashton is set to become the third Wigan player to switch codes, following in the footsteps of Jason Robinson and Andy Farrell, while former Wigan winger Brian Carney last week joined Munster.

Three other players - Karl Pryce (Bradford), Stephen Myler (Salford) and Chev Walker (Leeds) - switched codes at the end of last season, joining Gloucester, Northampton and Bath respectively.