GWS football director Jimmy Bartel says there is no certainty that Richmond’s Ivan Soldo will be involved in a trade for Jacob Hopper.
It comes after GM of football Jason McCartney said the Tigers’ initial offer for Hopper had come up a “little bit short”.
Giants midfielder Hopper, who is contracted for 2023, has requested a trade to the Tigers, who landed Tim Taranto from GWS on Monday for picks 12 and 19.
Given Richmond has much less attractive draft capital up their sleeves now, it is being presumed by many that a current Tigers player will be included as a sweetener.
2019 premiership player Soldo fits the bill as he is on the fringe at Tigerland, is originally from Canberra and may be the type of player the Giants are looking for to add to their ruck stocks.
But will the 49-game Soldo definitely be involved to get the deal done?
Bartel commented on the situation on Sportsday.
“Not necessarily,” he said.
“It’s up to Richmond to go to work.
“We saw that once the Taranto deal got done, I think a lot of people reporting think it’s one big deal, but they’re separate deals.
“Soldo is someone being spoken about. Obviously being from Canberra, clearly (people are assuming) he has to go home.
“But that’s not necessarily the case.
“Of course you do your due diligence if that is to be a player thrown in with the package, because this all moves pretty quickly. So you need to do medicals and all sorts of things.
“Firstly, you’ve got to find out if big Ivan is interested in going. I think it’s everyone doing their due diligence.
“Just the fact that (the Tigers are saying), ‘Well, that’s all we’ve got’, that doesn’t get the deal done because obviously Hopper is a contracted player.”
Richmond’s offer for Hopper as it stands is reportedly pick 31 this year and a future first-round selection, which has so far not satisfied the Giants.
Soldo, 26, played 13 senior games in 2022, falling out of favour late in the campaign when Ben Miller was preferred as the second ruck option.