Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill said his decision to allow scrum-half Julien Dupuy to leave the club was because he did not want to keep a player who saw his future elsewhere.

Cockerill added that the 25-year-old's elevation to the France team this summer meant that Tigers were likely to miss both Dupuy and England's Harry Ellis to their national teams for large parts of the season.

Want-away Dupuy joined Stade Francais yesterday after the Paris-based Top 14 side paid a transfer fee understood to be 200,000 Euros (£175,000) for his services.

Leicester signed former Tigers player James Grindal from Newcastle Falcons as his replacement.

"Allowing Julien to leave is a decision that has not been taken lightly," said Cockerill after the Frenchman made public his desire to return home for personal reasons.

"Stade were willing to pay a substantial fee and we have to think of the squad as a whole when making these decisions.

"It would have been difficult to keep a player who saw his future elsewhere.

"Julien came here as a squad player from Biarritz and he has enjoyed an excellent year in the Tigers environment, to the extent that he is now a starting selection for France.

"Now that he has made his debut for France, we could have faced the situation where we lose both him and Harry Ellis to international squads for significant parts of the season, and that has also had a bearing on my decision."

Under-contract Dupuy first announced his intention to return to France towards the end of last season after his girlfriend became unsettled in Leicester and returned home.

Tigers said that there was no chance of a deal being done unless a substantial transfer fee was offered, and that Leicester could find a suitable replacement at the same time.

But, when Stade entered the market with an offer understood to be 200,000 Euros, Leicester lined up Australian scrum-half Chris Whitaker as a possible new signing.

His decision to retire from the game last week looked to have put an end to Dupuy's hopes of going.

But, when Grindal became available, all of the pieces were finally in place for Tigers to let last season's star scrum-half leave the club.

"We have a British & Irish Lions scum-half in Harry Ellis and we have had the emergence of Ben Youngs, who we would like to see continue with his development," said Cockerill.

"Now we have added James to the competition for the scrum-half shirt and we are very happy to be able to bring him in.

"James obviously knows the Leicester culture after coming through the ranks here as a young guy, and he has a lot of experience. He has played more than 150 first-team games for Newcastle and he is still a young guy. We look forward to welcoming him."

The 28-year-old made 21 appearances for Leicester between 1999 and 2002 before leaving for Kingston Park.

Born in Nuneaton, the former England Under-21 and Saxons international made 157 appearances in Falcons colours.

Cockerill added that the fee paid for Dupuy's services has given them the finances to possibly bring in a goal-kicker.

The Frenchman did well with the boot last season and, with him gone and Toby Flood expected to be out injured until late October with a ruptured Achilles, Tigers would be left vulnerable if starting fly-half Sam Vesty picked up an injury.

"Julien had an added role as a goal-kicker with us last season, and the transfer fee does allow us to have a look at our goal-kicking options if necessary," added Cockerill.

Meanwhile, Dupuy has been left out of the France side to face Australia in Sydney tomorrow.