Saints head of talent and acquisition Graeme Allan sent Leek Aleer’s manager a text message at around 12pm on Thursday saying he’d call in 20 minutes with bad news. The deal was off. In a shocking trade backflip, St Kilda pulled out of its pursuit for the Giants defender.
The move blindsided a “livid” Aleer. His agent, Dylan Smith from Centimetre Perfect Global, said the backflip “came as an absolute shock” after the Saints were unable to strike a trade.
It’s believed the Saints weren’t willing to part with a future second-round pick in a directive from the board to stop trading future assets following the club’s busy spending spree. St Kilda had already committed to sending out a second rounder for Liam Ryan, so it withdrew from Aleer.
But Giants footy boss Jason McCartney said it “wasn’t a difficult trade negotiation” and “that is absolutely fact”. McCartney said a “shattered and “incredibly disappointed” Aleer had a contract offer to return to the Giants, despite the club already committing to signing Jayden Laverde to help cover the defensive void.
Hard to recall a situation like this happening before. Especially when you consider it involves a player the Saints have courted as far back as two years ago. By Thursday the deal was dead. And Aleer’s four-year contract at Moorabbin believed to be worth over $700,000 per season along with it.
But not before trade negotiations with the Giants had already taken place. And yet there’s still six days left in the trade period. So it’d be different if St Kilda had paused or ‘pulled out’ of talks — not abandoned plans for the 24-year old entirely.
Then there’s the sheer money side of things. Or potential lack thereof causing buyer’s remorse. As mentioned, St Kilda has already gone hard this off-season in a multimillion-dollar spending spree. It’s curious that on the same day the Saints were out on Aleer, Geelong appears to be prioritising Charlie Curnow over Marshall with reports of a mega offer of three first-round picks for the Blues superstar.
Don’t forget that the Saints ‘came late’ for Jack Silvagni to snare him from Western Bulldogs and Collingwood in a move that already bolstered Ross Lyon’s team’s key defensive stocks. Is it possible they were always prepared to cut the cord on Aleer if the price in a trade wasn’t suitable?
But where to here for Aleer? He’s left in a tough situation with limited time to work out his Plan B. Everyone will throw up Western Bulldogs as a landing spot given they’ve been searching for a key back. Collingwood and North Melbourne could be other options for the athletic 195cm high-flyer.
The tricky part is that other clubs in the market for a defender have already made plans. It’s clearly less than ideal circumstances for prospective clubs to get their ducks in a row quick smart after a bizarre trade period twist.
Perhaps we’ll only know in the fullness of time the real reason for it. Could there be another Saints move in the works? The latest news in the world of sports always keeps fans on their toes.
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