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Michalak set to return to Toulouse

Monday 12th May 2008

Michalak is set to rejoin old friends like Vincent Clerc

France and Sharks fly-half Frédéric Michalak is set to return home as Toulouse have confrimed that he will meet club president René Bouscatel in the coming days.

Michalak has been in France for some time now, ever since returning to his hometown after injuring his knee ligaments while playing in the Super 14.

The flamboyant fly-half has been to object of many a head hunter and even more speculation, the most noteworthy regarding him joining Toulon alongside Dan Carter.

Michalak himself has not made any comments but Jean-Michel Rancoule, in charge of recruitment at the triple European champions told the AFP that "he will be meeting the [club] president soon."

"The fact that he is injured at the moment has no bearing on our decision."

A return to Toulouse has always been the most likely scenario. Having joined the club at the age of ten and spending seventeen years within it's ranks, no one would be surprised to see Michalak return to la Ville Rose and the club that will "always be in my heart" as he said upon announcing his departure early in 2007.

"Before being a player I was a supporter. Guy Novès and René Bouscatel did everything possible to keep me," Michalak said at the time. Now it seems they are willing to take him back.

"I have all my family and friends in Toulouse. Maybe I'll come back next year," he said before leaving.

Two of those close friends are Clemont Poitrenaud and Vincent Clerc who have also been ruled out of the rest of the season through injury. Michalak was seen in the stands for Toulouse's 73-12 demolition of Auch and ever since news of a contract signing has been awaited.

The 25-cap international wore the Sharks jersey only nine times but has made it clear that a return to Europe is necessary if he wishes to win any more French caps.

"Michalak returning to Stade Toulousain is logical," Bouscatel told L'Equipe.

"Frédéric still needs to tell us that he wants to return to France, in which case we'll make him a proposition within the limits of our means. It's an immense pleasure to see him returning to his family, to the club where he started."

Those key elements have put Toulouse at the head of the pack in the race for Michalak's signature despite the fact that Toulon are reported to have offered the fly-half half-a-million Euros per season.

Toulouse however have been in contact with their former star for many weeks now, with discussions starting even before his injury. According to French daily Midi Olympique he is on the verge of signing a contract for two or three years.

Michalak has wore the Toulouse jersey on 147 occasions, scoring 493 points in six years in the first team. A spot in the starting XV however is far from a certainty.

With Toulouse already having signed incumbent France fly-half David Skrela from Stade Français and current Toulouse fly-halves Valentin Courrent and Gaffie Du Toit having already extended their contracts, competition for the number ten jersey will be intense.

'Freddy' as the Sharks team-mates call him, can play at scrum-half but with former All Black Byron Kelleher and incumbent France scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde already vying for the spot behind the scrum that seems unlikely. As problems go, Toulouse could do worse...