Antoine Dupont to sign a MEGA deal but with an intriguing twist that will have tongues wagging

Toulouse are moving to secure the services of Antoine Dupont long-term in a mega deal that has an intriguing caveat.

The world-class number nine is currently sidelined with the nasty injury that he sustained during the Six Nations and is only expected to return to action in mid-November, as he is not rushing the process.

In the meantime, Toulouse have reportedly opened up negotiations over his future beyond the expiration of his current contract, which expires in 2027.

New contract

According to a report by Dicodusport, Stade Toulousain aim to extend Dupont’s contract through to 2031 or 2032, meaning he would be contracted to the club, who he joined from Castres in 2017, past his 35th birthday.

The contract is set to include a clause that will allow Dupont to take up a deal abroad or explore “another challenge” according to report, meaning that the 2021 World Rugby Player of the Year could sign for another club for a season or take up a similar challenge as he did in 2024 when he helped the France sevens team win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

Earlier this year, Dupont and his company Ouest Coast became part of the ownership of the USA Major League Rugby team, the Rugby Football Club Los Angeles (RFCLA). In theory, the 28-year-old could activate the clause to represent the club that he has invested in.

That would be a bold, ground-breaking move, though, as he would become the first top-flight tier one player to join the competition during their ‘prime’.

He could also repeat his 2024 heroics and chase gold with the French sevens team again by representing his country at the 2028 Olympics in LA.

It is unlikely that he would be able to sign with the R360 rebel league after France was one of the unions that warned players against signing with the competition.

Still, the opportunity to capture one of the best players in the world will surely put clubs worldwide on notice.

Dupont slams the salary cap

The report comes after Dupont went to war with the governing body of the French leagues, the LNR (Ligue Nationale de Rugby), over the salary cap that is currently set at €10.7 million per Top 14 club for the 2025/26 season.

However, the cap calculations include individual commercial partnerships, which he believes shouldn’t be the case.

“The salary cap rules… prevent us from using our individual image through traditional advertising contracts,” Dupont told AFP, Le Monde, and SportBusiness Club.

His comments come amid talks of lowering the salary cap following an initial reduction during Covid-19.

The salary cap includes any form of exploitation of a player’s image, for example in an advertising contract with a company that is already a partner of their club.

“This is a recently reinforced principle of transparency, which aims to prevent any circumvention of the salary cap through indirect remuneration,” the League argued in a response to AFP.

Dupont argues that the situation has changed from four or five years ago, when the clubs had few sponsorship deals.

“Today, it’s becoming a problem for most of the players in the French team… because we already know we’re restricted by this salary cap,” he said.

He added: “We find ourselves in a growing rugby economy thanks to us, the players in the middle.

“And in the end we don’t benefit from it because salaries are stagnating or even falling, and we can’t use our image. It’s starting to be too much.

“Even within their right of oversight, they are trying to be increasingly invasive by asking us to name all of our (commercial) partners, even those who are not partners with the club

“They want to know everything about our assets, so it’s turning into a bit of a witch hunt where they want to expose the cheaters but it’s becoming ridiculous.”