Flutey made 48 appearances for London Irish

London Irish head coach Toby Booth has denied rumours that Riki Flutey is returning to the club.

The England centre's current club, Brive, is reported to be looking to off-load him to reduce their wage bill.

But Booth told BBC Berkshire: "I spoke to Riki Flutey's agent and we said we'd have a sit down and see if there's anything we can do.

"But Riki's a Lions player who warrants a certain salary and I'm not sure we have that salary to pay."

He added: "We obviously want the best players at our club and it's all part of the recruitment process going forwards, but there's no truth that Riki Flutey's coming here at the moment."

Flutey left London Irish in 2007 to join Wasps, before moving on to Brive in 2009.

Booth said in theory he would have no problem with Flutey coming back to the Exiles.

"I'd like to know specifically the reasons why and those little bits and pieces, but Riki's a very good player, a very good professional and those are the sort of people we want at the club.

"You have to keep it professional. I'm sure Riki had his reasons for leaving the first time - I wasn't in charge at the time - and Brian Smith seems to be working with him okay. But it's all pie-in-the-sky."

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