Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said the club would be "saddened" to lose Buku Khamis if he were to explore his options at a rival club.
Khamis is contracted for next year, but with the lack of senior opportunities at the Bulldogs, it is being reported that he is beginning to look elsewhere.
The 24-year-old has played 14 games in 2025, but hasn't been called up since Round 16, spending the time in the VFL at both ends of the ground.
According to Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph, the Bulldogs were keen to extend Khamis beyond 2026.
"If the right opportunity came up, then he would go. But it has to be a club where he is going to play," Khamis' manager, Ray Purcell, said to the Herald Sun.
But when probed on Thursday, Beveridge said the club is desperate to keep him, and is confident he'll see out the remainder of his contract.
"We meet a lot of beautiful people in life, but he is one of the great people, Buku Khamis," Beveridge said.
"We'd be saddened to lose him. He has become an influential player.
"The balance of our team, playing one more key position player at the moment, our sort of current ideology is that's not going to suit what we want to do.
"He is contracted (for 2026), so we're not going to want to lose him.
"If he's the next picked key position player at either end, it's very unlikely we're going to want to let him go.
"We'll continue to work through that with him."
Khamis was initially deployed in defence but has recently spent time forward of the ball in the club's reserves side.
He's kicked 13 goals in four games, including a five-goal haul against Essendon.
As for the senior side, they sit precariously outside the top eight but have a winnable fortnight against Melbourne and West Coast.
A final round match-up against Fremantle at Marvel Stadium is set to have major ramifications on September.
