Nick Evans is a key player in the Harlequins machine © PA Photos

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Harlequins' talismanic fly-half Nick Evans is keen on staying at the Stoop but also admits that with him approaching the twilight years of his career, he could be tempted by a move to France or Japan.

Evans' contract is up at the end of this season and his worth to Harlequins was perfectly illustrated last weekend as he orchestrated their astonishing fight back against Wasps where they ended up with a 42-40 victory. Harlequins have recently tied down fellow half-backs Danny Care and Karl Dickson onto new deals and they will be keen on keeping Evans.

The fly-half claims that he is keen to remain in London but his signature is likely to be hotly sought after. "Both sides are in talks at the moment and it's something we want to organise early because that suits both parties," Evans said. "I'm no spring chicken, but I'd also love to stay. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

"I have a few options and staying at Quins is one of them. I've been away from New Zealand a while, but I do love London.

"I have a great time here and work really well with Quins. The company's awesome and we have a good time. I will not go back to New Zealand to play. I've had my time there. If I was to move, it would be to France or Japan."

Evans and his Harlequins team-mates will play London Welsh on Friday evening and their season opener against Wasps reinforced to Conor O'Shea's men just how hard it will be to retain their Premiership title this time around.

"We won the title so every side will be gunning for us now," Evans said. "I remember last year when Saracens were champions that was the game we really wanted to lay a marker in.

"Teams will want to do that against us this year and that's a pressure we can use to our advantage. We don't expect to be given any quarter and we know we must be on top of our game in every game, no matter who we are playing

"But in the four years I've been here this is the best I've felt about this team. We haven't had to recruit too much and we've got another level of experience on last year.

"After winning the Amlin Challenge Cup and Premiership, we know our game inside out. But we must keep working. We didn't meet our targets in defence or attack last year, but it was our discipline that really let us down.

"We must improve on that so that we keep getting in positions where we can win trophies."