MARCO Mama said he had no doubts over extending his stay at Worcester Warriors despite revealing that he had attracted interest from other Gallagher Premiership clubs.

The back rower felt it would have been “slightly riskier” to move on and reckoned Warriors’ game style allowed him to “play the way I want to play”.

Since his arrival from Bristol in 2015 Mama has established himself as a first-team regular at Warriors and a firm favourite among the Sixways faithful.

But the 27-year-old said he had to bide his time before signing a new one-year extension as he became the 17th member of Alan Solomons’ squad to put pen to paper.

“I wouldn’t say there was any doubt in my mind,” said Mama on his decision to remain at the club.

“There is a list that clubs go through when it comes to signing certain players and you have got to wait for your turn.

“Sometimes there are a few sticking points but I think Solly (Solomons) and I were always quite comfortable.

“I did my last deal with him so we were comfortable that we were eventually going to get it done.

“When you have got young guys like Ted Hill he probably wants to sign them way before me so I was a bit further down the list.”

A knee injury forced him to miss most of last season but he is back playing regularly at Worcester and enjoying his rugby.

“Without going into too much detail there were clubs in the Premiership (interested),” Mama said.

“I am obviously English-qualified but players’ agents will look all across the globe.

“If there was a random team in Japan who all of a sudden wanted you then those options do become apparent.

“I think most players will get interest.

“But it was quite clear that I was best to stay with what I knew and at a club where I felt I could express myself and play the way I want to play.”

Mama has scored three tries in 44 appearances, 12 of those coming this term.

“If you move to another club there is the unknown,” Mama said.

“It is probably slightly riskier because people might interpret you slightly differently and might not focus on your strengths, the game plan might not suit you.

“I am at a club where I feel like I can express myself well on the pitch, feel comfortable with the way we are trying to play and I believe it suits me as a player very well.

“Those were the key factors in the decision as well.”

Despite having an agent Mama said he chose to do “quite a lot of the deal” himself with Solomons having struck up a “rapport” with Warriors’ director of rugby.

When asked why he had only signed a one-year deal, Mama added: “There are many different factors that go into contracts.

“You have got different budgets, where coaches see you in their short-term and long-term plans and you have got to agree on what you have got at the time.

“I can’t go into the details as to why but I can tell you that I am enjoying what is going on at the club. If I wasn’t I wouldn’t have signed for another year.

“Although it is a shorter-length contract I do definitely want to be here for at least another year. There are many other factors as to why it is not a longer-term deal but if you offered me a five-year deal on a million-pound a year I would have taken it!”