Courtney Lawes: Northampton Saints in talks over England forward's future, says Mark Darbon

Courtney Lawes made his only appearance of this year's Six Nations as a replacement in England's win over Wales

Negotiations between Northampton Saints and England forward Courtney Lawes are ongoing as speculation continues about his future after the Rugby World Cup, says chief executive Mark Darbon.

Lawes, 33, is contracted to the Premiership side until 2024 but has a break clause in his deal which could see him leave this summer.

"Courtney is an icon of this club", Darbon told BBC Look East.

"He is genuinely world class and in an ideal world we'd love to keep him."

Darbon added: "We have discussions which are a live situation at the moment but we'll have clarity in the coming weeks.

"By his own admission he's had a frustrating year with a bad run of injuries."

Lawes has made just four appearances for Saints this season and was restricted to one outing for England during this year's Six Nations - coming on as a replacement during the win over Wales in Cardiff - because of injury.

Lawes, who has told BBC Radio Northampton's Saints Show that he has been tempted by possible moves to France in the past, is one of several high-profile England stars linked with a potential switch abroad.

Under current Rugby Football Union rules, a transfer to a club outside of England would prevent him from playing for the national team after the World Cup.

But England lock Maro Itoje told the Daily Telegraph that Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL), who run England's top division, needs to make it more attractive for the clubs to have English players.

Meanwhile, former England full-back Mike Brown, now with Leicester, last week said that the RFU should look to introduce central contracts to ease the Premiership's money problems and help keep star players in the top flight.

"I would contest that there's not enough incentive to stay," said Darbon.

"The players love their clubs, one of the big questions is how you enable an international to thrive in the club game. To me that's about detangling the challenges and issues with the calendar.

"If your internationals are always away it's more difficult to justify those investments. So how do we make sure the club game sits nicely alongside the internationals and our supporters get to see players like Courtney Lawes thriving for England and Saints?"

When asked if clubs should consider central contracts with some of their star players, Darbon said: "That's not our model.

"We have to manage our budget to be competitive. We'd like the best English players playing in England because it's good for the English game."

Meanwhile, Northampton have unveiled their new high performance indoor training facility, which cost £3m, funded by the investment by CVC into the Premiership in 2018.

"We want to future-proof what we're doing here, on and off the pitch. This is a sensible investment and we have to invest in our facilities," added Darbon.

It comes as Premiership Rugby saw its losses double to £36m.

"It's no secret there are a number of clubs under pressure financially, our mindset is build a sustainable model which survives and thrives in the future," said Darbon.

"We have to be really smart where we make investment. Unless we can get more people to follow this game it's always going to be a challenge, and if you can do that and be smart about investment, we have a positive future."