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Perhaps fittingly in the week when Britain opted to leave the EU, the last of Wasps triumvirate of Italians opted to vote leave.

Prop Lorenzo Cittadini followed his countrymen Andrea Masi and Carlo Festuccia to Heathrow’s departures terminal, from where he will join French club Bayonne.

The Basque club are newly returned to the Top 14, and according to Wasps boss Dai Young the two-year deal they offered the 33-year-old Italian international was important in his decision making process.

“Citts had one year left on his contract,” he said, “and wants to play for two more years. So when Bayonne came in guaranteeing him a number one or two spot, and offering him a two-year contract, it was easy to see the attraction for him.

“Also, Jake Cooper-Woolley has come on in leaps and bounds, and got in front of Citts to start a lot of games. With Marty Moore coming in as well, Lorenzo was worried about how much regular first team rugby he would have, and he didn’t really want to be a number three.

“I’ve been a player myself, and know keeping someone who is unhappy or don’t think they are going to play, doesn’t really work. If you can sell it to them so they are happy to give it a crack and back themselves that’s fine, but if you feel it’s not going to end very positively it’s better to shake hands. Since I’ve been here no player has left under a cloud, or in anything other than an amicable manner.”

The Italian tight head was a well-liked figure with the club’s fans and his playing colleagues. In a very modern context, he also won something of a cult following among a small-but-vociferous element of the social media community with whom Billy Twelvetrees is a less-than-popular figure, by being red carded for punching the England centre last season.

Young paid tribute to the contribution the Italian has made to both Wasps’ scrummaging and the squad’s development, before going on to point out the practicalities of operating within English rugby’s salary cap.

“Citts has been absolutely phenomenal in the last two seasons and has really helped our pack move forwards,” he said.

“But in this situation you have to respect and recognise what the player has done for the club in the past. He’s been great off the field, and been a real character in the squad, but I couldn’t dispute that going there is a better option for him, so he goes with our blessing.

“Swaino (Phil Swainston) played some good stuff last season, so we have got numbers at tight head. You also have to accept that the books must balance, so when players come in others have to go - we can’t keep just bringing people in as there is a financial element to everything we do.”