Essendon hasn’t lost hope of attracting Jordan De Goey to the club during the trade period, according to AFL Media’s Damian Barrett.
De Goey’s future remains unclear just days away from the player movement window opening. The 26-year-old is currently a restricted free agent and without a contract for 2023.
He’s understood to have rejected behavioural clauses in Collingwood’s latest offer. De Goey was reported to have re-signed at the Magpies on Wednesday, but that’s believed to be incorrect.
St Kilda has already confirmed its interest in the star midfielder, but Barrett says the Bombers have maintained their reported interest from earlier in the year.
It was previously believed St Kilda held the biggest interest and was the most likely destination if De Goey chose to leave Collingwood.
But Essendon's interest could ramp up in the coming days, with the club drawing closer to announcing its next senior coach.
“We can tell you today that the Essendon footy club hasn’t given up hope – even at this very late stage – of potentially getting into the conversation with Jordan De Goey,” Barrett told AFL Trade Radio's The Late Trade.
“They were certainly a club of interest during the season. The narrowing down and fine-tuning of their coach search, Brad Scott being interviewed today by the Bombers, if that was to all go well today they might be in a position to either go with him or whoever they want to go with in the next 24-48 hours publicly, at least to give some clarity as to who will be the coach and maybe properly have a conversation with Jordan De Goey with certainty as to who their coach is next year.
“They (Collingwood, Essendon and St Kilda) are the three clubs still in the mix. I still feel he will wade through these behavioural clause issues with the Collingwood football club and stay, but as we keep saying in this business, until the signature is on the line, it’s yet to be official.”
An off-field incident in Bali during De Goey’s mid-season break saw Collingwood take its contract offer off the table during the home and away season, but a blistering finals campaign had many reports suggesting the tough nut would re-sign at the Magpies.
It’s believed the clause in his contract he’s unwilling to agree to hands Collingwood the ability to terminate his contract at the club’s discretion.