MANAGER of football operations Josh Mahoney says he’s confident Essendon midfielder Jake Melksham will become a Demon in the upcoming trade period.

Speaking on 1116 SEN, Mahoney said the club had had a few discussions with Essendon about Melksham and the two clubs “weren’t too far” from working out a deal.

“We’d expect that to be done over the trade period,” he said on Thursday.

But Mahoney said the club was not pursuing Gold Coast’s Harley Bennell.

“We had a look early days, when we saw there was an opportunity,” he said.

“Talent wise, he would be an ideal player for us, but we did a little bit of work on [his] background.

“We thought the risk associated with it, plus potentially what would have to be given up to attract Harley to the football club, was not right for Melbourne Football Club at this stage.”

Mahoney said it was still to be determined whether high-flying forward/defender Jeremy Howe would remain at the club next year and beyond.

“It’s probably now getting to a stage where Jeremy and the club need to make a decision on where we’re going from here,” he said.

“He and his manager know our position and they’ve had some time to weigh up other options as well, so it’s certainly getting closer to a decision with Jeremy.

“Financially there‘s a gap between us and probably Jeremy at this stage, and it’s probably not a stumbling block at this stage. Through our discussions throughout the year, it’s also meant we have had to look at some other opportunities as well.”