Ulster manager Richie Murphy said the club did not want Jacob Stockdale and John Cooney to leave, but added that “the group will move on” without any departing players.
Reports in France suggest Ireland wing Stockdale, whose contract expires at the end of the season, and scrum-half John Cooney move up to the top 14.
Stockdale, 28, recently returned to Ireland preparations and started in the win over Fiji in November’s Test.
Cooney, 34, has been a key player for Ulster since joining the club from Connacht in 2017. However, he won the last of his 11 caps for Ireland in the 2020 Six Nations.
“They were both great players,” Murphy told a press conference ahead of Ulster’s Investec Champions Cup trip to Toulouse on Sunday (15:15 GMT).
“At this time of year there will always be conversations about things like that when players are out of contract.
“We don’t want to see them leave. It’s like if people decide to leave, the group here will move on without them.
“We’re trying to build something here over the next few years, and hopefully people will want to be a part of it.”
Cooney and Stockdale are both injured and will not feature in Ulster’s game at Champions Cup holders Toulouse.
Listen to Toulouse v Ulster on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster on Sunday from 15:00 GMT.
