England centre Manu Tuilagi commits to Leicester

Manu Tuilagi has ended speculation over his future by agreeing a new contract with Leicester Tigers, on the same day that the club announced fresh deals for Ben Youngs, Freddie Burns and club captain Ed Slater.

Tuilagi had been the subject of rumoured interest from a host of clubs, with Worcester Warriors reportedly prepared to offer the 24-year-old a lucrative deal worth £1.6million over three years.

However, the England centre has now committed to Leicester, whose director of rugby Richard Cockerill revealed last month that the club had "made an offer that would make him up there with the highest paid players in the world".

Following Monday's announcement that Tuilagi, who has been sidelined by a groin injury for more than a year, will remain at Welford Road, Cockerill said: "Manu is a world-class talent and we are delighted that he sees his future with the Tigers.

"We always wanted him to stay and we always believed that he wanted to stay too.

"The club has been very good to him and he has shown huge loyalty to the club in return in wanting to stay here.

"This is where he is at home, the supporters love him and we're looking forward to getting him back out on the pitch in the near future."

Tuilagi added: "It is a great club and I'm very settled here. The club and the supporters have been very good to me.

"The way the team has been playing this season is very exciting with Aaron Mauger as head coach and that is another reason I'm looking forward to getting back out on the pitch in Tigers colours."

England scrum-half Youngs said of his new contract: "The fact my dad was a Leicester Tigers player and that I can play alongside my brother [fellow England international Tom] in the Tigers team here each week is very important to me."