SYDNEY Swans forward Ryan O'Keefe will make a decision on his future as soon as next week.
O'Keefe, who is out of contract with the Swans, was the big story of the AFL's exchange period after he stated a desire to return to Melbourne to finish his career.
No deal was done and uncertainty has swirled around the 27-year-old, who said he hadn't expected the issue to become as big as it did.
"Something will be made up very shortly, probably by next week," he said on Melbourne radio station SEN on Thursday.
"Next week, but I'm not quite sure when yet.
"There's a lot of stuff that's not quite true that gets written, but I didn't realise it was going to be that big. I didn't think I was that big."
O'Keefe admitted he was worried that he wouldn't find his way to a Melbourne team in December's NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft without an interstate side picking him up with an earlier selection.
"That's probably one thing I have to go through, yeah – I'm not so certain I'll be able to get through, so that's something we have to weigh up," he said.
And despite not being able to sort out a deal during trade week – when only six were done, none for high-profile players – O'Keefe admitted that leaving the Swans with nothing wasn't something he was happy about.
O'Keefe was recently awarded life membership of the club after reaching the 150-game milestone during the season.
"It's something where we tried to get the job done through the trade so that Sydney actually got something for me, so if I was to sort-of walk out on Sydney and them not get anything for me, then that's probably something I would feel a little bit bad about," he said.
However, O'Keefe added that if he decided to stay at the Swans, there would be no issues between him and the playing group or coaching staff.
"Look, I've got a lot of really good mates there, and I've spoken to them and they're really supportive," he said.
"They've got no dramas with me if I was to go back.
"[Coach Paul Roos and I] spoke pretty closely through the whole period, and he's obviously said whatever the decision, if you want to come back that's fine and all that sort of stuff, so he's been really great throughout the whole process."
