Paul Wellens has admitted St Helens are looking at recruitment options with a view to Sione Mata’utia potentially leaving the club. The forward, who is off-contract at the end of the season, has yet to make a decision on his future with the club keen for him to extend his stay at the club.
Mata’utia has been an excellent performer for the club over a number of years and while the preference is for him to extend his time at the club, Saints have started making plans for an alternative future where he doesn’t remain a part of the squad heading into 2025.
Wellens has been open about the player’s future, with the forward and his family considering a return home after four years in the UK. The off-season is traditionally a difficult period to try and recruit, with most players already contracted and signed up for the following season. The prolonged nature of the discussion has seen the club look at options in the transfer market should he depart.
Just taking it as they come,” Wellens said. “Obviously I’ve already spoken about Sione Mata’utia and him maybe needing to make a decision around his future.
“When that decision is made, that may dictate whether we need to bring somebody in or not, so there’s little things like that at play which may force us into the market again but we’ll have to wait and see. Obviously our preferred option at this moment in time would be for Sione to stay but, again, we’ll wait and see how that pans out.
