Petracca arrives in Adelaide as he weighs up future ahead of trade period

Melbourne’s Norm Smith Medal-winning midfielder Christian Petracca has flown to Adelaide to meet with the Crows as he weighs up his future ahead of the trade period.

Petracca, who is contracted at the Demons until the end of 2029, was spotted arriving at Adelaide Airport on Monday with his manager, Anna Scullie, and wife, Bella.

He is one of the biggest names potentially up for grabs in this year’s trade period, which begins next Monday, along with Essendon captain Zach Merrett and Carlton’s dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow. All three superstars are contracted for multiple years.

It is the second straight year that Petracca, who turns 30 in January, has been open to a fresh start at another club – but any move will depend on Melbourne’s willingness to trade him.

Petracca’s meeting with Adelaide comes only a fortnight after Steven King was introduced as Simon Goodwin’s coaching replacement.

He was runner-up to Max Gawn in the Demons’ best-and-fairest award this past season as they finished 14th and missed the finals again. The other club linked to Petracca is Gold Coast.

Melbourne and Petracca released a statement in August last year, saying he remained “committed to playing for the red and blue”, which temporarily ended weeks of speculation about his future.

That followed him suffering gruesome injuries on King’s Birthday, then airing concerns in his exit meeting, and with fellow leaders, about the club’s direction and where it could improve.

This masthead revealed in March that Petracca had split with Connors Sports to be represented by Scullie, who had already been involved in some of his marketing deals and is the wife of former Crow and Blue Eddie Betts.

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