Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell has revealed how far he and key Essendon personnel went to ensuring how well Jake Stringer would fit at their football club. 

Stringer remained one of the most high-profile moves in this year's trade period and Campbell has detailed how up to a dozen people inside Stringer's close circle were spoken to before Essendon pursued a trade for the 2015 All Australian. 

Publicly, Stringer's name has been tarnished throughout the media and Campbell acknowledged taking on the 23-year-old did come with some risks but believe the club had done enough to minimize the risk element of the deal. 

"I met with Jake one-on-one early and I probably met with him two or three times – (once) in a group setting and twice one-on-one," Campbell told Melbourne radio station SEN on Wednesday morning.

"I just wanted to know him more as a person, what his motivations were, (and) know how he viewed the last few years and where he thought things hadn't been quite (at) the level that he wanted to be, to know what he thought he could have done better, to know where he wanted to go.

"I met with his parents a couple of times as well. Jake was dealing with a lot of complex issues and is living with his parents at the moment at Docklands. It was understanding a bit more about (things) from their perspective.

"You're collecting data, collecting information, and I reckon we spoke to 10 or 12 people in relation to understanding more about Jake's situation.

"Bottom line, you want to be comfortable that he was what he was saying he wanted to be … and he was absolutely committed to that.

"He met with the leadership group, he met with (coach John Worsfold). One-on-one he met with a whole range of people, and we felt comfortable that Jake was a good addition to our football club."

Reluctant to give up their first round pick in the Stringer deal, Essendon eventually traded picks 25 and 30 for the former Bulldog where he kicked 160 goals in 89 games. 

Campbell added that the element of risk was involved when bringing in any player to a football club and that doing due diligence was required in every situation. 

"I think anyone brings some sort of element of risk when they come into your organisation. Having met with him that many times and spoken to so many people, we wanted to reduce the risk and I think we got to the point where we did that.

Stringer cut his post-season holiday to the USA short in order to get a head start on preseason training at his new club.