Sale Sharks want to sign Leicester and England fly-half George Ford, director of rugby Alex Sanderson has confirmed.

He is in a second spell with Leicester, following four years at Bath, but was born not far away from Sale, in Oldham.

Sale have held preliminary talks with Ford and Sanderson said: "I thought it went well."

He continued: "I have no intention of counting chickens before they're hatched. I honestly couldn't tell you what will happen.

"We can only put our best case forward and let the chips fall where they may, but I think we're a club with aspirations, with investment and with good people involved. I think we're a strong runner."

Sale are in the market for a new fly-half following confirmation that AJ MacGinty will be leaving them to join Bristol Bears at the end of the season.

Ford has scored more than 300 points in 77 appearances for England, but was left out of the autumn internationals squad by Eddie Jones, who has opted instead to give Marcus Smith of Harlequins his chance.

His club form, though, has been exceptional and he scored 25 points in Leicester's 40-23 win over Bath last weekend, leading to him being named Premiership Player of the Month for October.

"Fly-half is a crucial position where you need someone of international class if you're ever going to challenge - and George Ford is one," Sanderson added.

"He's world class and he's probably playing the best rugby he's played for a while. So, that's where we're at and the rest is speculation."

Sale won their only Premiership title in 2006 and are currently eighth in the table with three victories from eight games this season, having reached the play-offs by finishing third in 2020-21.