PORT Adelaide has all but conceded wingman Jared Polec will be plying his trade elsewhere next year.
The Power have put an offer on the table to the 25-year-old, but won't match the lucrative financial terms from elsewhere, with North Melbourne reportedly having tabled a $3.5 million, five-year deal.
Polec has had his exit meeting with the Power, but hasn't given the club an indication of whether he will re-sign or request a trade.
"The reality is going to be, the offer elsewhere is going to be too big for him to pass up at this point," the Power's general manager of football Chris Davies said on Wednesday.
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"We've put an offer to Jared previously that he knows exactly what it is and he's got to make some decisions over the next period of time.
"We've been really clear on the fact that he's got offers from other clubs.
"The longer this goes, the more likely he is to be leaving the club."
Polec has had a career-best season, averaging 25.1 disposals per game and finishing third in the competition for metres gained and fourth for kicks.
Power coach Ken Hinkley rated Polec in the same company as West Coast star Andrew Gaff, and said the Power would demand a high price for Polec in a trade.
"If you look at his rankings, he'll rank up alongside Gaff, they're the best two outside mids in the competition by the numbers," Hinkley told SEN radio on Wednesday.
"If you're losing one of the best, you've got to get a good return."
Davies said the Power's total player payments had been managed well over a period of time.
"That doesn't mean we can't do different things to pull levers, whether it's Jared, or whether it's another player down the track," Davies said.
"It's whether the club wants to and it's whether the player ultimately wants to accept that offer.
"We can talk about the different levers we've got to pull, but ultimately the decision needs to be made."
Davies also dismissed speculation midfielder/forward Chad Wingard was on the trade table.
"From our perspective, we're planning for Chad to be here," Davies said.
"He's contracted for another year.
"When players become free agents down the track, there's obviously a fair bit of speculation about them the year before."
The Power have confirmed three list changes for next season – experienced forward Lindsay Thomas has retired, while former No.4 draft pick Jimmy Toumpas and rookie-listed defender Emmanuel Irra have been delisted.
Meanwhile, Power forward Jack Watts has had ankle surgery while defender Riley Bonner will go under the knife for a foot operation.
Both players are expected to be right for the start of pre-season training in November.
