Melbourne's Clayton Oliver has two options in front of him. One would require taking a pay cut

Eddie McGuire feels Clayton Oliver has two options in this coming off-season - stick it out with Melbourne, or take a pay cut before requesting a trade.

It comes after reports that the four-time best and fairest winner remains interested in exploring a fresh start in 2026.

While Oliver has made positive strides this season, after two tough years, he remains well off the champion midfielder he used to be.

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And given his salary sits reportedly at $1.5 million per season, finding a trade partner will certainly be tricky.

McGuire hopes Oliver makes the call to stick with a club that wants what is best for him.

"I suppose the next part is, and I know (club president) Brad Green has been fired up about it, but I would think Geelong has probably gone cold on him if they were into him," the former Collingwood president told Nine's Eddie and Jimmy Podcast.

"I know that he has been shopped around. I think his natural home is Melbourne and that he should stay at Melbourne.

"I think for Clayton at the moment, Brad Green stuck up for him last week, new CEO coming in and he's loved by the players and supporters.

"They take him for the warts he's got, but they also remember the four best and fairests.

"You go to a new club and you're a mercenary. 'You come in, we're paying you, you better play'. There's residual love at Melbourne. I think you can forget that too easily.

"I hope he stays."

If Oliver does choose to request a trade from Melbourne, McGuire believes he will need to take a significant pay cut in order to make himself appealing for potential suitors.

Teams like Geelong and Adelaide have been linked with the 27-year-old in previous trade periods.

"If he does want out, should he take a pay cut? Why should Melbourne be left holding the bag if all they have done is support him along the way?" he said.

"If he thinks his time at Melbourne is done, he should cut a deal to get out and go somewhere, prove himself and make some more money."

Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel agrees that getting Melbourne to accept paying some of his wage to play elsewhere would be tough in this scenario.

"The money is the money, and both sides accepted the deal, I get that, but it actually becomes easier to get him to where he wants to go and opens up the market if that number isn't so big," Bartel said.

"What's the point of Melbourne paying him $500,000 to play elsewhere? When they do those deals, at the top end it's $200,000. When it's that much, why would they do it?

"That's a lot of your cap that you don't have access to.

"If you can somehow do that cut before you move him on, if you get him to $800,000-$900,000, there's multiple options for him now."

McGuire agreed, adding: "I just think if a club moves you on, that's fair enough, they pay, but if the player wants to go, you take a discount to get to where you need to and the managers can get in and negotiate."

Oliver had 13 disposals, laid four tackles and won two clearances in his side's loss to Hawthorn.

He was primarily used in a tagging role on Jai Newcombe early in the contest.