Swans chief Tom Harley said the club was not concernedFranklin remained unsigned six weeks out from the end of the home-and-away season,and emphatically denied claims they were stockpiling cash to make a play at Richmond champion Dustin Martin.
Though the Swans are tight-lipped on their offer to Franklin,the veteran will be taking a significant pay cut to play next year. His blockbuster,nine-year,$10 million deal expires at the end of this season.
Harley described the dialogue between player and club as being “respectful with significant amounts of goodwill”. He said the Swans were adamant Franklin would finish his career in the red and the white.
“Absolutely,there’s no doubt about that,” Harley said on SEN. “We think that Lance has been an amazing contributor to the club and the code and has become iconically Sydney and part of the Sydney Swans family,so that’s absolutely our intent for sure.”
The Swans have been linked to Martin,primarily on the basis the Richmond champion spends time away from the spotlight in Sydney,but senior officials have maintained they have not looked into the possibility of a switch. Harley said there was “absolutely no link between these two stories and these two players”.
“I’ve said repeatedly and consistently,as I’ve said with Lance,that we have had no contact nor conversations with Dustin Martin,” Harley said.