Catalans Dragons launch move for Wakefield Trinity star

Catalans Dragons have set their signs on Wakefield Trinity winger Tom Johnstone. Rugby League Live understands last year's Super League Grand Finalists are lining up a move for the human highlight reel, who is off-contract at the end of the season.

The England international is likely to be one of Super League's most in-demand players during the current transfer window, but is the Dragons who have emerged as the early frontrunners, with several sources indicating that the south of France is his most likely destination. Wakefield are inevitably keen to retain their prize asset, but Johnstone is more likely to depart come the end of the season.

While other clubs have been keeping tabs on developments, there is an expectation that Perpignan is where he will be playing come 2023. No deal is thought to have been finalised at this early stage of the recruitment cycle.

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Johnstone has been a sensation ever since making his Super League debut. He has scored 81 tries in 106 top-flight appearances but it is the manner of those tries that has particularly stood out. Johnstone's acrobatics have regularly spread across the globe after scoring a stack of the competition's most eye-catching tries.

Over the years big clubs have come calling, but Wakefield have remained firm and rejected bids. But with his contract now expiring, they face an almighty fight to retain his services beyond the end of the season.

Catalans' interest comes despite having two established wingers in Fouad Yaha and Tom Davies, who himself has represented England. Yaha is off-contract at the end of the season while Dean Whare, the New Zealand international centre, is off-contract