Sydney football boss Charlie Gardiner believes his club were given the short end of the stick following their finalised deal to send gun midfielder Jordan Dawson to Adelaide.
The Swans officially parted ways with the 24-year-old on Wednesday, receiving Melbourne's future first-round selection from the Crows in return.
Dawson has been a key asset to Sydney across the past several seasons, averaging 18.88 disposals, 3.55 rebounds 50s and 2.44 inside 50s across his 64 games in red and white.
Midfielder
Disposals
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The Swans and Crows reached several impasses in their negotiations for Dawson, with both clubs seemingly valuing the Swans star differently.
Despite the back and forth discussions throughout the trade window, the Swans eventually agreed to Adelaide's offering of a future selection, however the finalised deal has left Gardiner somewhat unsatisfied.
โWe made clear from the outset that we rated Jordan as highly as any player available in this trade period,โ Gardiner said onย Trade Radio.ย
โThroughout the trade period we worked extremely hard to reach a fair outcome in regard to Jordan, despite challenging circumstances. Ultimately, we have settled on a deal that we donโt think quite reflects Jordanโs true value but is one that, after extensive negotiations, we donโt believe we could improve upon.
โAfter strong consideration, we believed it to be in the best interests of the club to accept the deal available and move forward.
โHolding two first-round selections for the 2022 draft does put us in a very strong position and gives us great flexibility to improve our list in the future.
โWe thank Jordan for the contribution he has made to the club over the past six seasons.โ
Dawson follows George Hewett is exiting Sydney this off-season, with the defensive midfielder linking up with Carlton via free agency.
The Swans will look to facilitate a trade with Port Adelaide ahead of Wednesday's deadline in order to acquire ruckman Peter Ladhams from Alberton Oval.
