England rugby union centre Manu Tuilagi is one of six players stood down by his club Leicester Tigers amid a club contract stand-off.

British and Irish Lions star Tuilagi, Kyle Eastmond, Telusa Veainu, Greg Bateman, Noel Reid and Jordan Taufua are yet to sign new, reduced terms with the English Premiership outfit.

Leicester set their players a deadline of Tuesday evening local time to sign new deals on lower terms, to reflect the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and also the upcoming salary cap reductions.

England stars George Ford and Ellis Genge are understood to have agreed new deals before the Tuesday deadline, but six senior stars now remain in continued dispute with the club.

All six players yet to agree new terms are thought to have sought legal advice on their situations.

Tuilagi has 43 England caps and one for the Lions, and is approaching the peak of his powers at 29.

The Samoa-born centre will be able to command a sizeable contract in either France or Japan, and his Leicester team-mates Veainu and Taufua will doubtless be in similar demand.

Leicester revealed the pandemic has already cost them approximately STG5 million ($A9.0 million) in revenue, but crucially the Tigers were unable to give an update on Tuilagi’s situation in a lengthy statement on Wednesday.