St Kilda list manager James Gallagher has commented on the club’s interest in Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey.
The Saints have been heavily linked with the talented Magpie who has again been in the headlines in recent times for the wrong reasons.
Gallagher admits he has “touched base” with De Goey’s management and that the club is looking at a number of options regarding this year’s free agents and other available players.
“I’ve touched base just to find out what’s going on,” Gallagher said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“I’m happy to be pretty transparent with it. There’s plenty of guys that are out of contract during the year and you just need to have an awareness of what the moving parts are across the competition.
“We talked a bit about strategy, about what the draft looks like, what do the opportunities look like from a trade perspective and what about free agents and what your list looks like.
“It’s balancing the combination of all of that and making a decision as the year progresses.”
Gallagher was asked if the club would have to undertake its due diligence on De Goey given his history of misdemeanours.
“Yeah, I’d imagine,” he added.
“If a club was going to go down that path, I’d imagine there would be a bit more work you’d probably do.
“I haven’t thought too much about it to be honest, but there probably would be.
“I reckon clubs are pretty thorough and they don’t miss too much these days with any player that they’re going to bring in, whether it’s through the draft or other means.
“Yeah possibly (we would do our due diligence), but I reckon most clubs do a lot of due diligence on the players they’re going to bring in to make sure they’re going to be the right fit.
“Footy-wise, you can see what their output is and what they look like as a player, but just as important is culturally how they’re going to fit in and impact the group.”
De Goey, 26, missed last weekend’s win over GWS due to the fallout of his much-publicised mid-season trip to Bali.
He was back at training this week but it remains to be seen if he plays against Gold Coast on Saturday night.
De Goey’s current contract with the Pies runs out at season’s end.