Latrell Mitchell is reportedly weighing up whether to take the biggest gamble of his career and sign with South Sydney on a reduced one-year deal.

Fairfax reports Mitchell is considering taking a significant pay cut to sign on at Redfern for $400,000.

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He would be banking on the Rabbitohs being able to find enough cap space to offer him a lucrative extension from 2021.

Round 19

It would be a big risk for the centre who was initially offered a two-year extension at the Roosters worth $800,000 a season while a four-year $3.8 million offer was tabled from Wests Tigers.

Should he agree to the Rabbitohs offer and suffer serious injury or loss of form in 2020, he would lose bargaining power for the following years.

While Mitchell’s signature would be a massive coup for Wayne Bennett and the Rabbitohs, the priority is still securing Gold Coast Titans star Jai Arrow.

The Maroons forward signed a four-year deal from 2021 but both Souths are pushing for the Titans to release him a year early.

Should that happen, however unlikely, Souths would have around $400,000 in cap space to pay Mitchell.

It comes as Mitchell’s chances of staying at the Sydney Roosters took a dent after it was confirmed he wouldn’t return to training with the NRL club.

The 22-year-old was due to return to pre-season training on Monday for the first time since the club pulled an offer off the table for 2021 last November. However, they have since moved to stop an almost-certain media circus, with star centre being granted leave not to appear.

Latrell Mitchell has been granted a leave of absence from Roosters training. Source: News Corp Australia

“Sydney Roosters player Latrell Mitchell has been granted a leave of absence, excusing him from all training commitments,” the club said in a statement on Sunday night.

Mitchell hasn’t been back on official duties with the Roosters since winning last year’s premiership.

He turned out for the Kangaroos for their end-of-year Tests, before he and the rest of the club’s international stars had their leave end over Christmas.

Off-contract at the end of 2020, Mitchell has been linked with the Wests Tigers, Canterbury, North Queensland, Gold Coast and South Sydney.

The Rabbitohs now seem the most likely destination, although they have previously moved to distance themselves from the talented back.