Cardiff manager Dai Young has revealed that the club are looking for a new midfield, with Jarrod Evans and Rhys Priestland set to leave at the end of the season, and Rhys Patchell could be an option.

Evans has signed for English giants Harlequins, while Young has confirmed that former Wales midfielder Rhys Priestland is likely to retire.

But Young is also confident that Ben Thomas, who is linked with the Ospreys, will sign a new contract to stay at Arms Park next season.

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“We really don’t want to talk about individual contracts other than Rees [Priestland] He has made it clear that he plans to retire unless he gets an offer he can’t refuse,” Young said.

“We cannot make such proposals. Fig [Priestland] looking at life after rugby at the moment, but if there’s something that’s come up there, and I think it’s talking more about being abroad there than being here in Wales.

“We are sure that Ben Thomas will be here next season. Jarrod is well documented [Evans] heading west london [Harlequins]. We are certainly in the market for 10 that we will be offering next season.”

One player linked to the Blue Jays and Blacks is Wales international Patchell, who is expected to leave the Scarlets. Young admitted that he was a big fan of Patchell, who previously represented Cardiff from 2011 to 2016.

“He’s a quality player, there’s no doubt about that,” Young said when asked if Patchell was a target for Cardiff. “It would be a mistake for me to go down this path [of talking about other clubs’ players] but without a doubt he is a quality player.

“We are talking to many of our players. We’re moving forward on our contracts right now, we’re winning and losing something, but hopefully in the next 10 days of the week we can announce some guys that have re-committed and there are guys that can change. in.”

Despite a new six-year contract signed by the Welsh Rugby Union and four regions last week, the game remains in a precarious state with massive cutbacks. The four regions will operate on a gaming budget of around £5.2m next season. which will drop further to £4.5m next year.

In an exclusive interview with WalesOnline, Scarlets rugby general manager John Daniels, who also chairs rugby’s governing body, insisted that everything possible must be done to prevent budgets from falling to £4.5m, and Young agree.

“We’re all going to miss out on a big chunk next season, but none of us are going to come close to £4.5m this transfer window,” Young said. “It would be difficult for us to get there. Getting there physically and supporting a competitive team is a real effort.

“I would agree with John 100% [Daniels] Let’s cross our fingers that this doesn’t happen. We’d like to think we’ve cleared the hurdle. If this is how we’re going to end up, then we’re going to be in trouble again.”

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