Former list manager Matt Rendell believes Collingwood will part ways with four players before the Trade Period concludes next Thursday.
The futures of Adam Treloar, Tom Phillips, Mason Cox and Jaidyn Stephenson at the Pies are all under question and have been the subject of much speculation in previous weeks.
When asked how many of the quartet would land up seeing out their respective contracts, Rendell predicted that none of them would be at the club in 2021.
“I think all four (of Jaidyn Stephenson, Mason Cox, Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips) will go,” he said on AFL Trade Radio’s Late Trade.
“The only reason all four players may not go in the end would be time (left in the exchange period). That is a lot of deals to move on.
“Two of them in Treloar and Phillips were mentioned last year, Phillips and Cox have one year on their contracts left.”
Former GWS and Carlton list boss Stephen Silvagni explained the difficult situation facing both Collingwood and the players in question, saying the onus was on the club to find each of them a suitable home.
Due to Collingwood’s reported salary cap problems, they’ve been forced at looking to trade several players to free up room.
Silvagni said the current standoff was creating a unique situation whereby Collingwood were pushing players out, rather than players requesting a trade.
“When you’re pushing (players) out, you’ll find (the currency isn’t as good),” he said.
“Say someone like a Josh Dunkley or Orazio Fantasia, where the player actually wants to leave, this is a different situation (to what they’re in).
“Right now, this is the reverse where the club is pushing these players out. “It all depends on the discussion that the club has had with the management group, when it gets to this point it’s about whether the players do actually want to go (to an opposition club).
“They’re still contracted to Collingwood, but would they want to go interstate or a bottom four club? This is the thing about (Adam) Treloar especially, is Gold Coast the club he wants to go to. He wanted to come back to Melbourne to play for a big club.
“That is the difficulty clubs face in all of this, the players are still contracted, and they can stay. The club can push you out and steer then down the path, but the player still has to decide whether they want to leave and go to a different club.”