St Kilda's board have given the club's recruiting department the go ahead in their pursuit of Collingwood free agent Jordan De Goey.
A report fromย The Ageย states that the Saints are keen on a number of free agents as they look to improve on their 10th placed finish this season.
De Goey recently had a contract offer from Collingwood withdrawn following a video of him in Bali during the bye week became public. The removal of that offer has seemingly opened the door for the Saints even if it's only slightly.
St Kilda football boss Simon Lethlean said that the club would be interested in any available player that could help the Saints return to the finals team that had many expected would develop into a top four team back in 2020.
โWe have always had board support for us to look at any free agents or tradeable player as long as they fit in our strategy and we have done our due diligence," Lethlean said.
"We have done work on Jordan De Goey along with all other players that are out as free agents or tradeable players this year, but De Goey is the topical one at the moment."
Lethlean went on to confirm that the Saints were interested in securing De Goey's servces next season as they believe he would be a good fit down at Moorabbin.
โI am conscious of not wanting to talk about other clubsโ players, but we keep getting asked about him in particular. We are interested in De Goey and up until such time as he says he is staying at the Pies we will keep monitoring his situation and speak with his management.โ
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has routinely said that he enjoys having the 26-year-old at the club despite the off-field baggage he can bring onto the club at times.
According to the report, Collingwood are much more enticed by the idea of keeping De Goey in the black and white than they were just a few months ago.
According to theย Herald Sun, any new deal offered by Collingwood is likely to be similar to that of the offer withdrawn earlier in the season - reportedly worth $800,000 a season for two years.
The deal will reportedly have clauses relating to off-field behaviour and could have penalty clauses included. Collingwood is prepared to be patient and wait until the end of the season before negotiating the new deal with De Goey and his management.
Collingwood appear likely to secure Dan McStay from Brisbane, while they're well in the race for GWS pairing Tim Taranto and "Bobby" Hill.
McStay's potential deal is reportedly worth around $600k per year for five years and moving De Goey and his likely large pay packet on could help ease some cap pressure for Collingwood this off-season.
Brodie Grundy is another who could be moved on to help free up some cash with reports emerging that the ruckman could be another Pie to play elsewhere while Collingwood help pay some of his salary.
