The Newcastle Knights have offered Kalyn Ponga a four year, $4.5 million deal which is believed to include an option in his favour that would allow the superstar fullback to play for the All Blacks at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Knights chief executive Philip Gardner confirmed to the Herald that negotiations are under way to turn Ponga into the game's next million-dollar player and one of the five highest-paid players in the history of the sport.

The 21-year-old, rated by many as the most exciting player in the game since Benji Marshall broke into the NRL in the mid 2000s, still has two years to run on his current deal with an option for 2022.

The Knights, however, intend to discard the current arrangement in the hope of upgrading and extending him until at least 2023 with the biggest deal in the club's history.