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ANY CLUB hoping to prise Jaeger O'Meara away from Gold Coast will likely have to offer a salary of up to $700,000 a season and at least a top-five draft pick or two first-round picks.

Last week O'Meara underwent arthroscopic knee surgery that ended his 2016 season after just three NEAFL matches in which his game time was carefully managed.

The 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star has not played an AFL game since round 23, 2014, having ruptured a patella tendon in a NEAFL practice match last April.

The 22-year-old is due to come out of contract at the end of this season and there has been widespread speculation the West Australian is toying with making a fresh start in Melbourne – the city, not necessarily the club – where his girlfriend lives.

It is believed O'Meara remains genuinely undecided about his post-2016 future, and has not spoken to, let alone met, any opposition clubs.

But if he decides to move to Melbourne, there will almost certainly be clubs prepared to offer lucrative deals despite the significant question marks over his knee. Hawthorn and St Kilda have already been strongly linked to him, and other suitors will emerge if he officially becomes available.

Let's be clear about one thing, though, any club thinking it can snare O'Meara for a significant injury-based discount is set to be disappointed.

There's a simple reason for this. In the 44 games he played for the Suns in 2013 and 2014, O'Meara established himself as a rare talent.

One recruiter told AFL.com.au he thought O'Meara was destined to enter the game's elite before his injury, with his mix of speed, evasive skills and hardness at stoppages making him close to the complete midfielder.

So if O'Meara can get back to full fitness, his club would have a readymade star at its disposal next year.

Players like that do not come cheap.

Rival recruiters and list managers told AFL.com.au O'Meara would attract offers of at least $600,000 a season and up to $700,000 from Melbourne clubs.

But the Suns already have a two-year offer on the table reportedly for at least $700,000 a season, so if O'Meara leaves it seems money won't be a factor.

A fit Jaeger O'Meara is almost the complete footballer. Picture: AFL Photos

Nonetheless, a Melbourne-based suitor would still have to broker a trade that satisfied the Suns, given the midfielder remains four years shy of qualifying for free agency.

And Gold Coast would be sure to put a high price tag on its man.

As a starting point, industry sources felt the Suns would demand at least two first-round picks, drawing on the precedent set by the deal that sent Adam Treloar from Greater Western Sydney to Collingwood at the end of last season.

The Pies gave up pick No.7 (which became pick No.9 after academy bids; the Giants on-traded this to Melbourne as part of the Tomas Bugg deal) and its 2016 first-round pick (currently No.7) as the basis of that deal.

But if a club had an early enough first-round pick – in the top five, for instance – some list managers suggested that alone could satisfy the Suns.

Complicating any potential trade even further, one recruiter believed the Suns would ask for a player or players rather than draft picksin any trade for O'Meara.

In that case, the Suns would presumably demand one of the other club's best players, someone who also had plenty of football left in him.

Whether the Suns sought draft picks or players, a third club – and possibly others – would likely be required to satisfy their demands.

But if O'Meara puts his hand up for a trade, he will find a Melbourne club prepared to satisfy his salary demands and one that will work overtime to clinch a deal with Gold Coast.

That club would do so knowing – even after the most thorough medical test – it was taking a big risk.

But the lure of a fit and in-form O'Meara would be too big a reward to resist.