Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel has confirmed St Kilda are again interested in his services this year, with the Bombers veteran offering an honest insight into the situation and what his intentions are for the future.
Shiel, who is contracted at Tullamarine for the next 12 months, was linked to the Saints last off-season before a deal between the two clubs fell through as the former Giant carried a foot injury in the latter stages of last year.
The 31-year-old made his return to the senior side in Round 10 this year as the tactical sub after a long rehabilitation and a run through the VFL, with Shiel then returning to the state league before his second appearance of the year.
Shiel has since held his place in coach Brad Scott's side to play the last seven games of the Bombers' campaign, with his form returning to the level the club and fans have hoped to see across the course of the ball-winner's time in the red and black.
While his return has borne some fruit for the Bombers, Shiel's future remains unclear given the wealth of midfielders on hand at Essendon and the Saints' plans to potentially pry the midfielder out of the club.
Speaking to 7 News Melbourne, Shiel spoke on the Saints' rekindled interest but stated he intends to retire as an Essendon player.
"They were certainly interested last year, and my understanding is - I'm not oblivious to the news - they're obviously interested again," he said.
"We'll see. I'm not going to deny, deny, deny when it's clearly happening. I think as an industry this is a bit more the way of the business and we see that in other codes around the world.
"In football it's certainly happening. We're seeing players with a week to go in the regular season announcing they're requesting trades, we move on and act like adults.
"I'm certainly intending to finish my career at Essendon."
The Saints' interest in Shiel comes as the Moorabbin club nears an off-season that could involve mass changes to its playing list, with a number of veteran midfielders also facing unclear paths toward 2025.
Seb Ross and Zak Jones are both unsigned for next year, while Brad Crouch's knee injury is said to have him facing an unclear future despite being contracted with the Saints until the end of next season.
The Saints have more than 20 players still off-contract with one week remaining in their season, with the likes of Josh Battle, Jack Hayes and Tim Membrey linked to potential moves elsewhere.
Essendon also have a great deal of list calls to make in the coming weeks, with Jake Stringer, Nick Hind, Todd Goldstein, Matt Guelfi and Sam Weideman, among others, still yet to cement their futures.
The Bombers have enjoyed a strong year of retaining key players, having all of Jye Caldwell (2028), Nikolas Cox (2026), Sam Durham (2028), Saad El-Hawli (2025), Lewis Hayes (2026), Kyle Langford (2027), Andrew McGrath (2030), Jye Menzie (2025), Jordan Ridley (2029), Elijah Tsatas (2026) and Vigo Visentini (2025) re-sign this year.