TAULUPE Faletau’s destination will be England if Newport Gwent Dragons agree to a transfer fee for the Wales number eight.

The 24-year-old Lions star has been linked with both Bath and Northampton with the Aviva Premiership pair said to be keen to buy him out of the final year of his deal at Rodney Parade.

Faletau failed to meet a Welsh Rugby Union deadline for a national dual contract last season and had the offer withdrawn, leaving the Dragons with a business decision to make.

Given that the Pontypool-raised back row forward will be away until mid-November because of the World Cup, regional bosses may choose to accept a six-figure transfer fee and free up his wages given that they are well covered at number eight with Lewis Evans, Nick Crosswell and new recruit Ed Jackson.

Chairman Martyn Hazell last week said that they had not received an offer from any club but the matter will be addressed at a board meeting later this week when chief executive Stuart Davies returns from holiday.

They would love for Faletau, who has made 97 appearances since his 2009 debut, to stay but the writing is on the wall that he will leave, if not in November then in the summer.

The situation has led to Cardiff Blues making an opportunistic offer with chairman Peter Thomas stating they had made contact with Faletau’s agent.

“Cardiff Blues are most definitely interested in the player coming to us and I am sure Warren Gatland would be delighted at keeping him in Wales,” said Thomas to WalesOnline.

“If the Dragons opt to make a business decision to release him, then I would fully understand that.

“But if we can offer a way to keep him here, to keep him performing him at regional level and playing for Wales - with all the off-field and financial benefits that come with that - then surely that’s the best option for Welsh rugby?

“With a national dual contract and support from the Blues we can do that. It has to be better that he stays in Wales rather than goes outside the country.

“The disappointing thing is we have had no response from his agent.”

Given that the Blues finished beneath the Dragons last season for the first time since 2005 and are in a rebuilding process under new head coach Danny Wilson, the move is a non-starter.

It isn’t as attractive or a lucrative as one to Bath or Northampton, who will be in the shake-up for the English title and competing in the European Rugby Champions Cup.

The Rec appears to be his most likely destination with the West Country outfit bankrolled by Bruce Craig.

Bath, runners-up to Saracens in the Aviva Premiership last season, have already signed Wales fly-half Rhys Priestland and Dragons scrum-half Jonathan Evans for next season.