Premiership: Jack Nowell keeping an open mind as possible Exeter departure looms

Exeter Chiefs wing Jack Nowell is trying to be “open-minded” regarding his future as his time at Sandy Park looks to be coming to an end.

The Chiefs are struggling to table a competitive offer for the England finisher due to the £5 million salary cap and have stated if they find a suitable replacement, the signing would be made.

The assumption from both parties is that the wing is likely to move on, although nothing is set in stone.

Different circumstances

Nowell is taking a simple approach of open-mindedness and admitted he has never been in a situation where he has spoken to other clubs.

“I’m pretty open-minded, whatever comes comes, anything could happen,” Nowell told BBC Sport.

“I’m not saying I’m definitely leaving, but I’ve never been in a position where I’m in a position to speak to other clubs. I’ve always been signed up pretty quickly because it’s always something that I’ve wanted to do.”

The England star is thinking of his family and believes it could be an option to go abroad and seek new experiences if the opportunity presents itself.

“As much as I’d love to be here and stay here, I’ve got these guys to think about, so that is why I’m spending a bit of time doing it and just seeing what happens,” he said.

“For me, if there is a chance to go abroad and try something different then obviously that’s what I’d like to do.”

Impact of salary cap

England stars Sam Simmonds and Luke Cowan-Dickie are two more players who have had to make big decisions for their future because of the limitations caused by the salary cap.

Nowell admits to being frustrated by the salary cap despite claiming he understands why it is in place.

“Covid did a lot of bad stuff to a lot of different teams, and it’s not just Wasps and Worcester which are the obvious ones. There’s a lot of other stuff going on behind the scenes with other teams as well,” he said.

“I completely understand why they’re doing it and how they’re doing it, but at the same time I’ve got to look after myself and look after my family.

“I’m not sure what I’m doing, but the big thing we do know is Dickie’s leaving, Simmo’s leaving and when Simmo announced it, it was big for the club, but I’ve played with Dickie since we were four years old, so this is the first time now we’re going our separate ways.

“The only thing we keep talking about is that we finish on a high for this club.

“We’ve had many highs and lows and we certainly remember the highs. We want to make sure we finish with one this year.”

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