Carlton and Richmond are preparing to hold talks over Chris Yarran on Wednesday afternoon, with the Blues confident he wouldn't sit out of football for 12 months if a deal couldn't be done to send him to Punt Road.
There were suggestions on Wednesday that Yarran would not honour the last year of his contract if he were not traded to the Tigers, eventually moving to the club as a free agent ahead of the 2017 season.
Carlton list manager Stephen Silvagni, who said he had not spoken to Yarran recently, said he hoped a deal could be done to fulfil the 24-year-old's request as soon as this afternoon.
However, the club was firm on its request for a first-round pick from Richmond, having knocked back the Tigers' offer of pick No.19 on Tuesday afternoon.
He said it needed to be understood that Yarran was contracted to Carlton for 2016 and "if we can't broker a deal then he's a required player … I wouldn't have thought he wouldn't play".
Silvagni later told NAB AFL Trade Radio that the Blues would be open to a package deal including pick 19 for Yarran.
"Our eyes are set on pick 12 but we're open to suggestions. Having said that, Chris is a contracted player," he said.
"I've spoken to Richmond this afternoon and they're still working through a few things and hopefully we can come to a solution.
"I think we made it really clear to Richmond some time ago that an end of first round pick wouldn’t get it done and they were well aware of that."
Silvagni ruled out the possibility of Yarran joining Hawthorn for 2016.
"They had some interest in him some time ago but his eyes are set on joining the Tigers and if he doesn't join the Tigers I would suggest that he’d be playing with Carlton."
The Blues already hold two first round picks in this year's draft (No.1 and No.8) after trading Troy Menzel to Adelaide in exchange for Sam Kerridge and pick No.28 on Wednesday.
They then on-traded pick No.28, together with No.77, 95 and Geelong's 2016 first-round pick (acquired in the Lachie Henderson trade) to Greater Western Sydney for Lachie Plowman, Jed Lamb, Andrew Phillips, Liam Sumner and pick No.8.
"To get pick No.8 is a big win for our footy club. I don't think we've ever had two picks inside 10," Silvagni said.
"The club came out strong at the start of this year that the list needed to be rebuilt and I think there's some significant moves in terms of what's happened through trade period."
Silvagni said the prospect of trading Menzel only emerged late last week and he wasn't expecting a supporter backlash after parting with a fan favourite, who was recruited with pick No.11 in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft.
He said all four GWS recruits were expected to be long-term players for the club after struggling to get opportunities at the Giants either because of the list's depth or injuries.
Carlton will again go after GWS tall forward Adam Tomlinson on Thursday. The 22-year-old is contracted until 2017 but Silvagni is hopeful the two clubs can come to an agreement now that GWS footy operations boss Graeme Allan has less on his plate.
The Giants on Wednesday finalised Adam Treloar's move to Collingwood in a deal that had been dragging on all through the trade period, as well as the big deal between GWS and Carlton.
"We'd love to have Adam Tomlinson on our list. I've spoken to Graeme Allan about that and I'll speak to him again," he said.
"They have got a lot of key position players up there and I think he may just be looking for an opportunity."
Silvagni said tall forward Levi Casboult was expected to be on the Blues' list next season.
