Stade Francais' search for Fickou's replacement leads to New Zealand

Stade Francais will be losing one of the biggest stars at the end of the season with Gael Fickou joining Parisian rivals Racing 92. 

Fickou's departure is said to help balance the books after the club were forced to pay fines for exceeding the salary cap enforced in the TOP14.

In the press release announcing the departure of Fickou, the club specified that "Targeted and ambitious recruitment is underway for next season: formalizations will take place quickly."

Since the confirmation of Fickou's departure, the rumour mill has been busy with his potential replacements. The Rugby Paper has reported that the club are targeting the likes of Ollie Lawrence.

However, a report by Rugby Rama on Wednesday suggests that Stade Francais have made Ngani Laumape their target.

According to the report, Laumape is open to a move to France and although he would command a high salary it would still be less than that of Fickou's deal.

There could be more departures at Stade Francais with Midi Olympique reporting that Marcos Kremer could join Fickou at Racing 92 with the newspaper also linking Simon Zebo with London Irish.