‘Is this happening?’ De Goey explains trade rumour truth… and why he’s ‘always open’ to offers

Jordan De Goey has spoken about recent trade rumours after talk of a shock Collingwood exit during the exchange window.

Reports indicated the Magpies would’ve been open to offers for De Goey for the right price to help replenish the oldest list in the competition.

The 29-year-old has conceded he was open to offers but said he was happy at the club, revealing he was on holiday with his partner in Bali when it was going down.

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The chatter prompted Collingwood list boss Justin Leppitsch to touch base with De Goey from aboard and his manager to try and find out where it was coming from.

“I was actually in Bali with my partner. To be honest, I didn’t really hear a lot of it, a few little whispers here and there,” De Goey began on SEN radio.

“But for us (he and his camp), we maintained the same answer the whole time. We’re happy at Collingwood and nothing seems to be changing from our end. And the club was exactly the same.

“My manager started getting calls. ‘Leppa’ (Lepistch) was like: ‘Is this happening? Is this happening? Are you going to other clubs?’ And we’re like: ‘Nah, none of this is happening, this is just the rumour mill’.

“Once a few people start talking, everyone seems to start talking.”

De Goey said he sees it as a sign of the times, with player movement more rife than ever before including big names like of Charlie Curnow and Christian Petracca changing clubs during the trade period.

But the star midfielder confirmed he’s happy at Collingwood, where he’s contracted for two more seasons, and plans to play out his career in the black and white.

“To be honest, I’m 29 now, I’m not stupid. Any player on a list is available for the right price or the club is going to get something good out of it,“ De Goey continued.

“I just know that’s the way the industry is going, you’ve got to be open to stuff like that. It’s happening so much these days, just look at the recent trade period and some of the players that got tossed around.

“In my whole footy journey, you’re always open to offers and everything like that, you’d be silly not to.

“But in this case, I’m quite happy at Collingwood. I don’t really see my future anywhere else, especially at this particular time. So for me it was pretty simple.”

It’s been a prevalent topic at Collingwood in 2025 as several veterans faced key contract calls and weighed up rival offers, with Brody Mihocek ultimately departing for Melbourne.

Meanwhile Mason Cox and Tom Mitchell were both delisted as the club begins to transition its experienced list two years on from winning a flag.

“It’s tough, because they’re all good mates of mine. Unfortunately, this is the industry we’re in and it’s going to happen more and more,” De Goey added.

“At the end of the day, the players have to do what’s best for themselves.

“Because when we’re not playing the best or we’re not healthy, the clubs are going to be the first one to get rid of us.

“There’s an aspect of looking after your own backyard, and I think in this day and age, you really have to start to.”

De Goey will be hoping to bounce back from two injury-cruelled years including spending three months on the sidelines in 2025, before returning ahead of the finals as the Pies bowed out in a prelim loss to Brisbane.

He remains confident Collingwood can still contend for a premiership in 2026 despite a quiet trade period, with forward Jack Buller the club’s only addition.

“If you look at our list and the what we were able to show this year. Obviously not quite getting there, but close enough. Hopefully we can go a couple of steps better next year,“ he said.

“They talk about our age and everything like that, but it also comes down to experience, especially in finals.

“If we can play some decent footy through home and away, I think that extra finals experience will help.”