Carlton is unmoved on its demands for first-round draft picks in return for wantaway stars Chris Yarran and Lachie Henderson, head of football Andrew McKay says.
The Blues are set to dial up the pressure on Richmond to meet their asking price to get a deal done for speedster Yarran, who is contracted for next year but has nominated the Tigers as his club of choice.
Yarran's manager Paul Connors said on NAB AFL Trade Radio on Monday that Richmond was "strong on only a second-round pick" but hoped there would be a "happy medium somewhere".
McKay said the Blues were willing to get a deal done for the right pick.
"Let's make it very, very clear that he's a contracted player so we'll be fighting tooth-and-nail for the best possible pick for Chris, because he is a quality player," McKay said.
"We want a first-round pick. Richmond are baulking at that by the sound of it, but that's just all part of the negotiation process."
Henderson wants to get to Geelong during the NAB AFL Trade Period and the Cats are keen to come to an agreement with Carlton.
Complicating the issue are negotiations to secure restricted free agent Patrick Dangerfield, with the Cats – whose first pick is No.9 overall – possibly needing to trade for the superstar midfielder if Adelaide matches their offer.
But McKay said Carlton was eyeing another first-round pick for Henderson.
"We think we can get a first-round pick; we're confident we'll get something done there," he said.
"We're in discussions with Geelong and Geelong haven't indicated to us they won't have a first-round pick available to us."
Cats forward Josh Walker has been linked to a move to Ikon Park as part of the trade, although McKay said the finer details of the exchange hadn't been talked through yet.
Carlton is set to be a major player during the trade period, with the Blues in a three-pronged race against St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs to secure Dons tall Jake Carlisle.
"He'd look good in our backline or forward line … there's still a lot of water to go under the bridge but we'd certainly entertain the fact of trying to get him to Carlton, for sure," McKay said.
The Blues have the first pick in the pre-season draft, throwing another element into the mix for Essendon to get a trade done if Carlisle chooses Carlton as his preferred destination.
"We've spoken about both options (trading or obtaining Carlisle through the pre-season draft) – we haven't come to any conclusion at this stage – but I think first and foremost we need to work out where Jake wants to go and I don't think that's clear yet," McKay said.
McKay confirmed Lions youngster James Aish was another player on the Blues' radar.
He said the Blues were interested in former No.3 draft pick Lachie Plowman and fellow Greater Western Sydney youngster Liam Sumner, but said they hadn't "pursued' Giants tall Adam Tomlinson.
Meanwhile, McKay was confident contracted forward Troy Menzel would remain at Carlton and said no rival clubs had made contact about the 21-year-old.
Out-of-contract midfielder Dennis Armfield's hopes of staying with the Blues will come down to "a numbers game" once the player exchange period has played out, McKay said.
"We're hoping we can keep Dennis on our list because he does offer something," he said.
"But, as I say, it will be a numbers game in the end on whether all players stay or go."
