THE TELEGRAPH ARTICLE -
Christian Wade has revealed that he was unable to join Wasps earlier this summer due to the club's recruitment freeze, after Racing 92 announced he had signed for the club on Monday.
Wade returned to England earlier this summer to plan his next move after leaving NFL franchise the Buffalo Bills, where he had spent recent years on the team's practice squad and scored an impressive touchdown in pre-season.
The Gallagher Premiership's fourth-highest try scorer of all time - behind Chris Ashton, Tom Varndell and Mark Cueto - has been searching for a new club to return to rugby in recent months. Wade revealed that he later received an offer from Wasps once their recruitment freeze had been lifted, but by then he had already signed to play for Racing in the Top 14.
"I went to have a look at the facilities, catch up with the boys and coaches. Ultimately I was looking to be in London more, for my off-field stuff. Wasps had some issues where they were [financially] on pause so they couldn't offer anything, and by the time they offered something I had already signed [for Racing]," the England international explained.
"It was probably a bit too late for anything in that respect. Wasps have been my team for my whole career and I'm forever grateful for the coaches I've had and the incredible players I've played with. I achieved so much there which I have to give credit to the team there for supporting me.
"I guess that chapter is closed now for me, not to say it may not come around later on. But obviously for now my sights are on the Top 14 and winning trophies with this team."
Wade added there had been other offers from Premiership clubs but that salary cap constraints and the fact that he was looking to move back to the Premiership when most clubs had already completed their recruitment for the new season made things difficult.
"I was prepared to walk away from rugby and look at other ventures of the field - my foundation, other businesses I have launched in the US and am looking to bring to the UK. I love playing sport, love playing rugby, but if it wasn't going to be the right fit for me then I wasn't going to play again."
Despite still wanting to chase down the Premiership try-scoring record in the future - "We can't have [Chris] Ashton being the top scorer," he joked, with Ashton currently on 95 and Wade on 82 - Wade's immediate attention is now on getting onto the field with a talented Racing 92 side in Paris, with Wade targeting the third or fourth game of the season for a potential debut as he gets up to speed with the team's systems.
"I'm kind of lost for words to be honest. To land this kind of role is almost a dream come true," Wade added.
"Having been in the environment for a week or so, I can say this is probably the best one I've been in and definitely one of the best teams in the world. It's extremely exciting."
Always a Wasp
