The prospect of Zach Merrett remaining Essendon captain looms as a “really complex” discussion, according to club chief executive Craig Vozzo, who suggested the star midfielder’s teammates would have the most “critical” say.

Vozzo on Thursday morning conceded “bridges need to be mended” between the club and some senior players in the wake of significant trade speculation surrounding the Bombers.

It emerged on Wednesday that Merrett – the Bombers’ 29-year-old captain who’s being tipped to claim his sixth best and fairest this year – had met privately with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell amid suggestions the on-baller was pondering moving away from the Bombers. Bombers coach Brad Scott addressed the issue in depth on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

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It’s not the first time this year Mitchell has met with a rival skipper, with details of his catch-up with uncontracted Eagles co-captain Oscar Allen emerging earlier this year.

Asked on SEN Breakfast on Thursday morning if he was disappointed Mitchell had met with the contracted Merrett, Vozzo said: “I know Mitch well. It doesn’t surprise me, but yeah two club captains this year is an interesting one. One with a two-year contract – yeah, I didn’t like that. But anyway that’s life.”

Merrett’s manager, Tom Petroro of TGI Sport, told multiple outlets that while his client saw ample promise among the Bombers’ young players, he was craving the ultimate success – and he was weighing up whether he’d be a better chance of winning a flag at a different club at this stage of his career.

Mitchell coy over Merrett meeting | 00:56

Vozzo confirmed Merrett had spoken to the club about “where he’s at in his career” and whether his desire to win a premiership “coincided with where he wants to head”.

But Vozzo reiterated the Bombers’ stance that Merrett was a required player.

“The strong position of our club is Zach is contracted for the next two years, he’s a really important, critical part of where we’re heading. He’ll be at our club,” Vozzo told SEN Breakfast.

“That message has already been conveyed to him. We remain in constant dialogue with his manager, Tom Petroro, as well as Zach. Brad (Scott) has spoken to him daily … and we’ve maintained that position from day one.”

But Vozzo said it was important to separate the prospects of Merrett staying as an Essendon player compared to him remaining Bombers captain.

“The highest honour I see at a football club is to captain the club, I think it’s an honour and a privilege,” he said.

“Can he remain captain? It’s a really complex one. It’s one you need to deal with in a calm way and you can’t deal with it today, because today emotions are really, really high – my emotions are high and if I was making an emotional decision, I’d say: ‘No way Zach can be the captain of the club.’

“But it doesn’t work like that, so you take the emotion out of it, understanding the honour and the privilege.

‘The club feels betrayed’ – Jon Ralph | 07:20

“The other critical piece, process-wise, is the position of his teammates. In every leadership process I’ve been involved in, the position of the playing group is critical to that assessment … and that will play out in time. Those decisions are normally made through January and February into the season.”

Vozzo conceded “bridges need to be mended”, but stressed if Merrett stayed it wouldn’t be the first time a player has explored the trade market before ultimately staying.

On top of the Merrett news, best and fairest winner Jordan Ridley flagged his interest in a move to Brisbane, while Sam Draper told the club he wants to exercise his free agency rights.

Vozzo stressed Ridley’s position and reasoning were high performance-related and, therefore, “very different” to Merrett’s.

“I’ve had constant dialogue with Jordan throughout his career. He’s an outstanding player, an outstanding person – and we’ve got to create the environment that allows him to flourish from a high performance perspective,” he said.

“We’ve gone a long way over the latest period to do that. We were able to appoint Matthew Innes to lead our high performance and medical teams and David Regan will be join him in a 2IC position. So we’ve revamped that part of the business, because we want constant improvement – and we’re really confident that’ll address the issues, not just for Jordan, but other players who have been frustrated with the last couple of years.

Merrett link emerges ahead of semi-final | 02:33

“Things change really quickly and I have no doubt that if the proper conversations are held and people respect each other, people can work together.”

Vozzo also pushed back on the notion that if Merrett and Ridley stayed at Essendon, they’d be held against their will.

“It’s an interesting one. I’ve always been a players’ person. I’ve always believed in looking after players and I still do,” Vozzo said.

“But on the other side of the fence, you’ve got to understand when long-term contracts are entered, they’re entered for a couple of reasons. To provide security, but with that security, there’s a lack of flexibility that flows with it. So when players seek long-term security, they give up a level of flexibility – and that comes with that deal and comes with being one of the club’s highest-paid players.

“The system of AFL is very different. It’s more structured as to contracts. Just as players can’t be moved without consent, clubs can keep players even if there’s friction. That’s something we need to work through.”