Gold Coast midfielder Jack Martin will have a new AFL home in 2020 after formally requesting a trade.
Martin is out of contract at the end of this season and is seeking a trade to a Victorian club, with Carlton and the Western Bulldogs believed to be among the leading suitors.
“Jack Martin has informed the club that he will request a trade during the exchange period next month,” Suns general manager of football Jon Haines said in a statement.
“Jack and his manager will work through his options, as will the club’s list management team, in a bid to get the best possible outcome.”
Martin’s departure had looked inevitable after form and injury issues restricted him to just 16 games in 2019, with the midfielder dropped for the Suns’ round 21 game and failing to return before season’s end.
He was linked to Essendon last year but Gold Coast were unwilling to let him go, given the departures of Tom Lynch and Steven May, and held him to his contract.
Martin, from Western Australia, was recruited with the first pick overall in the 2012 mini-draft but has largely failed to meet high expectations since his AFL debut in 2014.
While he finished third in the Suns’ best and fairest award in both 2016 and 2017, Martin received just one Brownlow Medal vote across his first 81 games.
His imminent departure caps off another poor season for the wooden-spoon Suns, who won just three games and lost their final 18 matches of 2019.
The Suns are set to meet the AFL on Tuesday, where they are expected to request assistance in the form of draft allowances and potentially salary cap relief.
Gold Coast already have the No.1 draft pick but are expected to request a priority pick at the start of the draft order.