George Ford returns to Leicester Tigers after deal announced to sign England fly-half from Bath

Ford started his career at Welford Road before leaving to join Bath in 2013

Leicester have re-signed England fly-half George Ford from next season (Getty)

Leicester Tigers have announced the re-signing of England fly-half George Ford from Bath on a deal that starts at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, with Freddie Burns moving in the opposite direction.

Leicester confirmed the acquisition of 23-year-old Ford, who left Welford Road in 2013 after struggling to tie down a place in the starting XV, before announcing that current No 10 Burns will move to his hometown club as part of the deal.

Ford triggered a clause in his Bath contract in November that allowed him to leave at the end of the season, a year before his deal was due to expire, with speculation linking him with a return to Leicester as well as moves to Sale Sharks and Toulon.

Leicester have won the race to sign the talented stand-off though, with a statement released on Tuesday morning confirming the deal.

Bath also issued a statement immediately to announce the signing of the former Gloucester fly-half Burns, as well as confirm Ford’s departure.

Ford made his first-team debut for the Tigers in 2009 at the tender age of 16 after graduating from the club’s academy, making 41 appearances and winning both the Premiership title and Anglo-Welsh Cup before moving to the West Country to join Bath.

Under the guidance of former Bath head coach and father, Mike Ford, the fly-half went on to tie down England’s fly-half jersey as he rekindled the 10-12 partnership with Owen Farrell that the pair struck up at England Under-20 level, with Ford making his 32nd cap for his country in Saturday’s 21-16 defeat of Wales.

He returns to Leicester with 84 appearances and 929 points in the bag for Bath, though he looks certain to add to that as he will not complete the move until the end of the season. While at The Recreation Ground, Ford helped Bath reach both the European Challenge Cup and Aviva Premiership finals in 2014 and 2015, though on both occasions they came out on the losing side.

“This hasn’t been an easy decision for me to make, but I feel it is the best one for me at this time,” Ford said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time at Bath and have worked with some incredible players and coaches. I know I have developed hugely as a player because of that.”


 Ford has excelled for England under Eddie Jones (Getty)
 (Getty Images)

Current Tigers head coach, Aaron Mauger, admitted he was “absolutely delighted” to see Ford return to his boyhood club, and the former New Zealand international expects him to continue to improve given his tender years.

"He has become one of the leading players in his position in Europe and is still a young man with a lot of rugby ahead him. We look forward to his return to Welford Road in the summer.”

Mauger added: "While delighted to be able to bring in George, we are disappointed to lose Freddie who has been an outstanding player for us in the last three years. Freddie has bought totally into the Tigers ethos in his time here and he is a popular member of the squad with the players and supporters.

"Freddie has made a significant contribution on and off the field here and we look forward to him continuing to play a prominent role with us in the remainder of the season while wishing him well when he moves to Bath in the summer."

Burns will return to Bath as part of the deal to take Ford to Leicester (Getty)

Burns meanwhile will also be making a move back to familiar territory, having risen through the Bath academy before joining arch-rivals Gloucester back in 2007. After making 127 league appearances for the Cherry and Whites – which led to his England debut under Stuart Lancaster during the famous 38-21 victory over New Zealand in 2012 – Burns moved to Leicester in 2014, joining as a replacement for France-bound former England fly-half Toby Flood.

“I’m really looking forward to joining Bath next season,” said Burns. “The opportunity for me to represent my hometown club is one I have dreamt of from the day I started playing rugby. I am looking forward to working under Todd Blackadder and being part of a young and ambitious team to bring more success to the Club. You can see they are building something really exciting in the way they are playing, and the clear bond and team spirit between the players is key to that. It will be great to be part of that.”


 Burns returns to Bath 10 years after leaving the academy 
 (Getty)

Bath director of rugby, Blackadder, added: “We are really excited to be working with Freddie next season. He is a fantastic player, who has really developed into an all-encompassing fly-half in the last couple of years and I’m looking forward to seeing that fit into our game here. We’ve now got two international fly-halves signed for next season in Freddie and Rhys Priestland, and I’ve no doubt that both will play a key role for us going forward.

“We are naturally disappointed that George has decided to leave. He is a great player and I have enjoyed working with him, and know that he will give us his all until the end of the season. We have a great season ahead of us this year, and in 2017/18 and beyond.”