Carlton has confirmed its interest in Sydney Swans midfielder Tom Mitchell and revealed it has spoken to Mitchell's family.

Mitchell - whose father, Barry, played for the Swans, Blues and Collingwood – has struggled to break into the Swans' powerful line-up this season.

The 21-year-old, who has battled injuries this year but dominated in the NEAFL when fit, has played just six senior matches.

Carlton football operations manager Andrew McKay said on Friday – ahead of the Swans’ preliminary final against North Melbourne – that the Blues were keen on the ball-magnet should he seek a trade at the end of the season. 

Mitchell has not been selected in the Swans team to play North.

"I think certainly the Mitchell family understands that we would be interested if Tom did decide to leave," McKay told SEN on Friday.

"We're not actively trying to pull him out of Sydney by any stretch of the imagination, but Tom's obviously a very, very good player in a very, very good club so he's in and out of the team quite often.

"We haven't been active, but certainly the Mitchells understand our stance there."

Meanwhile, McKay cut off rumours about ruckman Matthew Kreuzer being offered as trade bait.

"It's amazing what gets thrown out there at this time of year, but certainly we wouldn't even consider trading Matthew Kreuzer anywhere," he said.

"He's obviously an important part of Carlton, he's had a long period on the sidelines as everyone knows this year so we're hoping he'll bounce back bigger and better than ever for next year."

Out-of-contract midfielder Mitch Robinson is on the trade table, however, after he lied about his involvement in an early morning brawl in the city last month.

McKay said the Blues have received interest from opponents, however he didn't rule out Robinson remaining at Carlton next season.

"Nothing's impossible. It's been pretty public that we'll look to trade Mitch and then we obviously want something for him," McKay said.

"We have had a bit of interest from a number of clubs, so we'll just have to wait and see."

McKay said forward Jeff Garlett, who was also involved in the early morning incident that landed Robinson in hot water, is in "the same boat" as Robinson.

And the Blues are still waiting to hear a decision from free agent Jarrad Waite, amid speculation he is set to walk out on the club.

"Jarrad's a required player – we'd love to keep him on our list," McKay said.

"He's obviously got a big decision to make and we're hoping that he makes that pretty soon."