Chris Ashton leaves Sale Sharks

In a very short statement, Sale Sharks confirmed that the club and Chris have reached a mutual agreement regarding the termination of his Sale Sharks contract and he will leave the club immediately.

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The winger joined the club ahead of the 2018/19 season, with rumours suggesting that he may be heading to Harlequins.

Having played rugby league in his early days, Ashton made a name for himself in the 15-man code with Northampton Saints. In the 2009/10 season he score 16 tries in 20 matches for Saints and won the Premiership Player of the Season Award.

The quality speedster joined Saracens for the 2012/13 season and became an instant hit at his new club when he scored 2 tries on his debut. A

Ashton was a regular for a long period for England on the wing but fell out of favour with boss Stuart Lancaster before the 6 Nations in 2014 after the emergence of Jack Nowell and Jonny May.

He failed to register an appearance for England in the tournament but after finding form for Saracens, Ashton was brought into the squad for the New Zealand tour and came off the bench in the 2nd test to score his first try in a year for England. Ashton normally will perform a swan dive after every try he scores, which is rebuked by some.

In October 2016, after 5 seasons with Saracens, Ashton signed for Top 14 outfit Toulon for the 2017/18 campaign.

He spent six seasons at Saracens, becoming the club’s leading try scorer and winning two Premiership titles and two European Champions Cup's.

The winger had 18 months to run on his contract and had agreed to join Toulon until 2020, but in early July 2018 he and Toulon agreed a mutual termination of his contract.