GREATER Western Sydney is demanding a first-round pick from Essendon in exchange for midfielder Jye Caldwell, a player the Giants believe is "ready to explode" at AFL level.
The out-of-contract 20-year-old has indicated his desire to move to the Bombers on a minimum four-year deal worth about $450,000 per season on average.
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It is understood the Bombers have put forward their future second-round pick for Caldwell with the promise of extra midfield minutes from next season.
However, the Giants believe his value is closer to the pick No.11 they selected him with in the 2018 NAB AFL Draft.
"We want it to be around the mark of what we paid for in the draft scenario," Giants head of football Jason McCartney told ABC Sport on Saturday.
"He was a mid-first-round pick and we certainly don't see anything that's changed, and he's actually got better."
"We've invested an enormous amount of time in Jye, and Jye's done really well in conjunction with our medical team.
"He had some injury issues (hamstrings) when we brought him in, but we took that on board and he's on top of all that.
"He's ready to play… he's cherry ripe and ready to explode.
"(Essendon list manager) Adrian Dodoro there is tied up trying to facilitate a few deals at the moment but we know in our mind and where we selected Jye and the work that's gone in, we need to be compensated around that mark."
The Bombers have the threat of walking Caldwell to the pre-season draft if a deal can't be met, but that would rely on other clubs – including North Melbourne and Hawthorn – not jumping in first.
Essendon doesn't have a second-round pick in 2020 after moving it on last year, but the club holds picks six and seven – a top-10 hand which is only expected to grow after the Bombers strike a deal with Carlton for Adam Saad.
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Meanwhile, the Giants insist Jeremy Cameron could return to the club if they don't strike a trade with Geelong. McCartney said dialogue was ongoing with the Cats.
"We're in discussions which is obviously really positive," McCartney said.
"We put forward something to Geelong on the opening day (Wednesday) of Trade Period, in writing, so since then Stephen Wells, their list manager, and myself have been having some conversations.
"We've got next week to resolve that one.
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"The reason we matched the free agency (offer from Geelong) was we weren't going to be satisfied with the compensation (pick No.11) that would be handed out for the calibre of that player.
"Geelong have some assets in regards to players and also some nice selections (currently No.13, 15, 20) we'd be interested in looking at the combination of what we can do in order to facilitate that move."
The Giants' priority from the Cats is midfielder Brandan Parfitt, however he has recently inked a two-year extension to stay to 2022.
McCartney added that forward recruit Jesse Hogan, who crossed from Fremantle in exchange for pick No.55, had "sacrificed a lot financially" to join the Giants.
