Freddie Burns touches down on England duty. The fly-half has three caps © Getty Images

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Leicester have finally confirmed the signing of Gloucester Freddie Burns as they look to strengthen their fly-half resources.

With club captain Toby Flood moving to Top 14 side Toulouse, Burns will vie with Owen Williams for the No.10 jersey next season. The England international is one of six new signings announced by director of rugby Richard Cockerill.

Burns will be joined at Welford Road by centre Seremaia Bai from Castres, Rotherham No.8 Laurence Pearce, Italy international forwards Robert Barbieri and Leonardo Ghiraldini, plus the versatile back Christian Loamanu from Benetton Treviso.

Gloucester confirmed in January that Burns would be leaving the club this summer, with Leicester the rumoured destination. However, the Tigers have waited until the end of the season to confirm the news.

"We look forward to the arrival of Freddie Burns," said Cockerill. "He is a young man with a couple of seasons of Premiership rugby already under his belt as well as playing for England and he can continue his development as a player here.

Cockerill also confirmed Leicester are hopeful of securing Pablo Matera's services for next season. The flanker is out of contract this summer and his commitments to Argentina in the Rugby Championship mean his club career in the Northern Hemisphere is complicated. There are fears he could be lured to play Super Rugby for a new Argentine franchise to be added in 2016.

"We're in the middle of negotiations to try to make that work," said Cockerill. "It's a complicated situation. We're doing our damndest to keep him here. How that works with Argentina and the southern hemisphere Super Rugby competition we'll have to see."