MELBOURNE CEO Peter Jackson has confirmed the Demons are pursuing suspended Essendon defender Michael Hibberd as the suspended Don contemplates his future beyond 2016.
Jackson told SEN on Thursday morning the club had been discussing Hibberd's future with relevant parties but time would tell whether he wanted to make the change.
"In the vast majority of cases, players tend not to leave their clubs. You go into these conversations and Michael’s a very good footballer, but we’ll see how that washes out in due course," Jackson said.
"We’re pretty happy with our young talent but we could have a little bit more maturity down back to bolster the stocks down there. If he seriously wanted to move, I think we’d be genuinely interested in him coming."
Melbourne has been one of the big improvers in 2016 and is building a talented list as it attempts to get back into the finals for the first time since 2006.
Although 26-year-old Hibberd has been training with the banned Essendon-listed players, he is not yet ready to make a decision on what he wants to do next season.
He is contracted with Essendon until the end of 2017, but the season-long ban means he can take his time to declare his hope for 2017, with an overseas trip planned for later this season.
Although contracted, the Bombers have said publicly on more than one occasion that they won't rush the banned players to recommit.
They have also said they want all 12 banned players to return, but they want the players to come to the conclusion in their own time that the best place for them to continue their career is at Essendon.
Melbourne coach Paul Roos said to SEN on Friday night that the Demons had discussed the possibility of chasing Hibberd but said he did not know how far the initial idea had progressed.
"Have we discussed Michael (Hibberd)? Yes we have, I don't know at what level it has got too though," Roos said.
Roos' successor as Melbourne coach, Simon Goodwin, was at Essendon when Hibberd began to emerge as a quality defender and AFL.com.au understands interest remains.
He is a competitive player who matured late to finish fourth in the Bombers' best and fairest in 2013 and 2014.
Former Bomber Jake Melksham joined the Demons during last year's trade period.
Despite being bottom of the ladder, Essendon has had a successful start to the season, re-signing Cale Hooker and ensuring Dyson Heppell, Tom Bellchambers, Travis Colyer, David Myers and Heath Hocking will play with the Bombers next season.
They have also recruited well with Darcy Parish proving to be an exciting talent and Mitch Brown being a solid pick-up. David Zaharakis is back to his best form and Zach Merrett is an emerging star.
Hibberd is not the only banned Bomber to not publicly announce future plans ,with captain Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton, Tayte Pears, Michael Hurley and Ben Howlett also yet to decide.
