AFL NEWS: Reports about Christian Petracca wanting out of the…READ MORE…

Reports about Christian Petracca wanting out of the Melbourne Demons are refusing to go away and it’s now emerged that Carlton’s Harry McKay could hold the key to any potential move. Reports have emerged in recent weeks that Petracca has become so disillusioned with the AFL club that he’d rather play elsewhere in 2025, but the Demons have remained stedfast that they do not want their star player to leave.

Petracca is still contracted for another five years on a big-money deal at Melbourne but has been struggling both mentally and physically after suffering broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and punctured lung in a season-ending incident against Collingwood in June. The 28-year-old was granted leave to travel to Noosa with his fiancee Bella but it wasn’t communicated to some of his teammates and caused friction with the playing group.

The premiership-winning midfielder held clear-the-air talks with the Demons and his teammates to explain the situation when he returned but new reports say the relationship between the star and the club is “beyond repair”. The Age’s Sam McClure claims Petracca made it clear to teammates at the club’s end-of-season function on Saturday night that he wants to join another Victorian club in 2025, adding that he made that clear to the club in an exit interview on Monday as well.

McClure claimed Petracca’s presence at the end-of-season function caused “tension” and left some Demons players feeling “noticeably uncomfortable”. “Three club sources and two sources close to Petracca, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, told this masthead that his falling out with the club appears to be beyond repair,” he wrote for The Age.

“The same sources said Petracca was unlikely to formally request a trade because of the difficulty of a deal getting done, and because a public request would further inflame his relationship with the Demons.” SEN’s Sam Edmund backed up the claims from McClure and said Petracca was “trying to plot a path out of the Demons”. “Christian Petracca has made it clear that he would like to play for another club next year,” Edmund told SEN Sportsday.