Wales winger George North will not be returning to Scarlets for next season, according to head coach Wayne Pivac.
The 25-year-old winger started two NatWest 6 Nations games in this year’s Championship, scoring two tries against Italy.
North is returning to Wales after a five-year stint with Northampton Saints and the Llanelli-based club, as his region of origin, have first refusal on signing him.
However, Pivac made it clear that North does not feature in his plans at the Scarlets and he has already signed an alternative player, rumoured to be South African full-back Clayton Blommetjies of the Toyota Cheetahs.
Pivac said: “What I will say is we will announce a signing very shortly.
“We have signed a back-three player and we will only be signing one.
“We have not been informed of where George is going by anybody, I think everybody is still waiting.
“But you can only wait so long and we have signed a player in the back three.”
North could instead play for Cardiff Blues, Dragons or Ospreys as part of his Welsh Rugby Union National Dual Contract for the 2018/19 season and will play regularly with other members of the Wales national team.
He came off the bench in Wales’ 12-6 defeat to England in Round 2, but started the game as Wales closed out their 2018 campaign with a 14-13 win over France in Cardiff to seal second spot in the standings.
Despite being only 25, North already has 17 NatWest 6 Nations tries to his name after scoring his first aged just 19, in Wales’ 23-21 win over Ireland in 2012.
