Pollock wants to stay at Saints but Hearn feels he should get seven-figure sum

But the Matchroom chief insists the black, green and gold should make Pollock a seven-figure player due to his incredible on-field ability and exceptional commercial appeal.

Saints Academy product Pollock’s current deal at Franklin’s Gardens is set to expire in 2027, with the club working hard to keep their prize assets, which include Tommy Freeman, whose contract is also up next year.

Hearn signed Pollock to his Matchroom agency earlier this year and they spent time together on Hearn’s superyacht in the Mediterranean last week, along with Bath fly-half Finn Russell, who is now also with Matchroom.

And following those holiday discussions, Heard spoke to the Telegraph about what he and 21-year-old England star Pollock expect from Saints in terms of the size of contract he is given.

“Northampton have to recognise what they have got,” Hearn said.

“It is all very well saying that there might be players who are a bit more consistent or might be better or whatever, but there aren’t players that are making an unquestionable and undeniable difference to the bottom line of the club.

“Henry Pollock drives season ticket sales. Henry Pollock puts bums on the seats. Henry Pollock drives viewership on TNT or wherever it’s going to be. Henry Pollock sells shirts, right? That’s the difference. So you can actually put an economic value over having Henry Pollock on the team, and that has to be recognised, regardless of the want from Henry.

"He cannot stay at this club on the money that he’s on.”

Hearn added: “He’s certainly a seven-figure player. I mean, for me, when I look at other players that are on those kind of numbers, Henry’s commercial value is on another stratosphere to them.

“The last thing we want to do is come into the game and start making all these demands. I understand the business – I’ve owned football clubs, right? I know these clubs are not making fortunes, it is not like we’re leaving millions of pounds on the table.

“But I just think that the way rugby’s going and what Pollock is doing, his value over the next couple of years will skyrocket, and I think the value of rugby will.

"I think the revenue coming into the game will as well. I think the amount of people looking to buy clubs or franchises or whatever these American investors want to look at, this is going to change it.

“And if someone comes along with a lot of money and buys a club, and I know you’ve got to talk about you know the structure of actually getting the players and the wage brackets, but ultimately, he is the guy that those investors, franchise owners and clubs are going to want to lead the team in terms of the star name.

“So what we can’t do is sign a contract that we look at in two years and go, ‘Oh my God, look at how much rugby is worth’. Within two or three years, the game could look completely different and we’re in a contract where Pollock should be getting three, four times what he’s on now.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be a long-term deal. But it needs to be enough of a deal where Northampton can commercially hang a hat on and say Pollock’s our guy.”

Saints clearly have to work to the salary cap and can only nominate one ‘marquee’ player whose wage is excluded from the £6.4m limit.

And with the value of so many of their players continuing to grow, trying to keep them all while still having a squad deep enough to compete for trophies is a hugely difficult challenge.

“The first thing I said to Henry was ‘do you want to stay at Northampton?’” Hearn said. “And he said, ‘yes’.

“He said ‘I love the club, I love the team, I love that I live 10 minutes away, and I think we’re going to win the championship again next year and I want to win championships’.

“I told him he could get 10 times more money to go elsewhere but he said he really did not want to move if he can help it.”

Hearn added: “By the way, it’s not like Northampton are doing anything against the grain. It’s just the numbers, right? Once you have paid your tax it would be hard to live on if it was his only form of income. He would struggle to buy a property.

“We just want to have sensible conversations with those people. Laying our cards on the table, Henry wants to stay at Northampton, and we have had offers from other clubs.

“What he is making in his annual deal I would pay a prospect (boxer) that you have never heard of the same money to fight in a 10-round fight that he can’t lose for one night.

"A fighter can earn a million quid in one night and you have never heard of him.

"I said to Henry ‘you are the biggest star in the game, and I can’t believe how little money you are earning’.

“But at the same time, boxing is a world where 99 per cent of them just want to know how much money they are making.

"Whereas Henry is saying that he loves Northampton and wants to win championships.

“I look at Henry and I am very pleased with the person he is. I know there is a perception of him as a ‘flash Harry’ but in reality, he is a solid young man.

"Legacy is important. He wants to win championships with Northampton, he wants to win the World Cup with England, he wants to win a gold medal for Great Britain Sevens in the Olympics.

“I think you always have to be yourself and he is just being himself. The greatest thing is that he is a good person and he is a great athlete and he is a team player.

"As long as we can showcase his personality to people, the true Henry Pollock, he can be hated or loved.

"If you are a good person, which he is, and you are in this sport for all the right reasons, and you are doing your best, why would you not like him?”

Hearn has huge plans for Pollock ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup.

“We have got a big project with Henry, it is like a running day count to the World Cup because that is the real high-point of where he is going to get to in the next two years,” Hearn explained.

“All his marketing, all his brand deals and his profile will lead up to the World Cup and he wants to win it.

"He is a team player, don’t get me wrong, but all great players have to be selfish. They have to have ego.

"He wants to win the World Cup, he wants to win championships with Northampton.

"He has got an incredible future ahead.”