GEELONG wants Gary Ablett back and has made inquiries to his management to gauge his interest on a return to Simonds Stadium.

But the Cats have been told in recent months that Ablett will sign a new three-year, $3 million deal to stay at the Gold Coast.

Ablett returning to Geelong after five years away would thrill fans and Geelong is desperate for midfield depth to top up a young playing list.

Ablett won a Brownlow Medal and two premierships at Geelong then left in acrimonious circumstances as he fell out with coach Mark Thompson.

The Cats have touched base with his manager Liam Pickering several times and as recently as early this year were told he wasn’t moving anywhere.

They believe circumstances would have to change for him to reconsider a deal that Gold Coast say is close to being sealed.

BARTEL A KO TEST CASE

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook yesterday said the club’s overtures going back a full season had been fruitless.

“When we have inquired we have been told he is staying,” Cook said. “It’s a romantic notion but it won’t happen.”

Ablett’s delay in clinching the deal — on the table in roughly its current form for over six months — and his recent shoulder issues have again clouded his future.

Premiership captain Cameron Ling believes Ablett will likely stay with the Suns but says a return home would have some appeal.

“My belief is he will stay on at the Suns. On the off chance he would want to move, Geelong is the only team he would want to move to,’’ he said.

“But compared to what he would be getting paid at the Suns, which does have that marketing component from the AFL, Geelong wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near that.

“Maybe another Melbourne club puts in an offer. But I am not sure he would come to a third club,’’ he told 3AW.

What is certain is that Geelong does not have salary cap space for both Ablett and Patrick Dangerfield, the Moggs Creek star they hope to lure next year.

Dangerfield would not require the sacrifice of draft picks given he is a free agent and only just turned 25 this month.

Geelong would need to give up something considerable in exchange for Ablett, not a free agent and turning 31 next month.

Under an AFL player union proposal players like Ablett would be free agents when their contract at their new club expired, but he is not free to leave under current rules.

Gold Coast football manager Marcus Ashcroft is adamant Ablett will still sign, saying this week: “Every indication he has given us, and his manager Liam Pickering, is that it will be done sooner rather than later,” he said.

“We’re not overly concerned. We’re hopeful it will happen in the next couple of weeks.”

Ablett is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury stirred up by a fortnight of buffeting after July surgery.

But Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade has denied he will not take anti-inflammatories.

“That’s been blown out of proportion. He is very particular and meticulous in his rehab,’’ he told Fox Footy this week.

“He is not a great believer in medication. He had some scar tissue removed in January and had some anti-inflammatories then and was happy to take them,’’ he said.

“He’s not totally against them but there has to be a discussion with the medical staff.”

Ablett is not a cookie cutter AFL player: a deeply religious athlete obsessed with a natural diet inspired by the paleo trend.

But while he lives a different life he has spoken previously of his burning desire to lead the Gold Coast into their inaugural finals series.