Premiership Eagle Liam Ryan has requested a trade, but the club says he’s a required player as weeks of discussions loom.
The West Coast forward has been strongly linked to St Kilda with a three-year deal totalling up to $1.8 million, including a trigger for a fourth year, reportedly on the table.
Ryan is contracted for next season, having signed a two-year extension last January, and the Eagles say they will continue discussions with the 2020 All-Australian’s management.
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“During our end-of-season player review process, Liam informed the Club of his request to be traded,” Head of List Management and Recruiting Matt Clarke said.
“Given his contract status and importance to our developing squad, we have reiterated to Liam that he is a required player at our football club, and we view him as part of our future.
“Out of respect to Liam and his management, we will continue discussions over the coming weeks.”
The news comes hours after West Coast confirmed Harley Reid had re-signed for two more seasons.
Ryan, 29 in October, has played 124 games since his 2018 debut – only once playing more than 19 matches.
It’s expected the Eagles will eventually relent on Ryan’s trade request in order to gain more draft picks for their ongoing rebuild, with their current stance a bargaining position.
“His manager clapped back on social media today, he said: ‘He has not been offered a four-year deal by St Kilda’. He’s been offered a three-year deal with a trigger… so he could still get to four years,” Jon Ralph told Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle last week.
“My understanding is it’ll take him three years plus to get him into the conversation about a trade. St Kilda’s offered three and a trigger, he’d be paid as much as $600,000 (per year).
“He was very keen to get to Port Adelaide if ‘Nas’ got there, Essendon’s offering two (years) and a trigger. So I would say, right now, everything looks like it’s heading to St Kilda.”
The Saints own their first-round pick, which will fall at the end of the top 10, but do not have a second-round selection to trade.
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