Christian Petracca breaks silence with statement on future: ‘I’m committed to Melbourne’

Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca has shut down trade speculation and committed his future to the Demons.

The 28-year-old’s future was thrown into the spotlight with constant reports of his unhappiness with the club over its handling of his life-threatening spleen injury.

He has struggled with his mental health since suffering the traumatic injury when he copped an errant knee in Melbourne’s clash with Collingwood on King’s Birthday.

In addition to the lacerated spleen he suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung, and spent nearly a week in ICU after undergoing emergency surgery.

Reports circulated in the past two weeks that Petracca wanted to be traded to a Victorian rival.

The midfielder had remained silent since the trade news broke, but has finally spoken — albeit via a club statement.

“Over the last few weeks, there’s been a lot of speculation regarding my role at the Melbourne Football Club,” said Petracca.

“This has occurred as part of the end-of-year review process, in which I voiced my concerns as a leader, wanting better for our club, playing group, and fans.

“During this time, I have been in open communication with the player leadership group.

“I make no apologies for wanting to better our club and contribute to our success both on and off the field.

“I love my footy - it remains my number one priority and always has been. As for my future at the Melbourne Football Club, I remain committed to playing for the red and blue.”

Melbourne CEO Gary Pert said the club will now move on “aligned” to the future.

“As we’ve stated all along, Christian is a much-loved member of the Melbourne Football Club and we value him immensely, not only as a player, but as a person and a leader,” said Pert.

“Over the past month, we have been open about the fact that Christian has shared some thoughts on how we can improve and better ourselves as a footy club.

“These conversations have made us a better organisation and we’re grateful that Christian, like all our leaders, are willing to have the tough conversations to drive success.

“We move forward from here, aligned, and steadfast in our commitment to achieving the success we know our AFL program is capable of.

“Most importantly, I know a lot of young Demons proudly wearing the number 5 on their back will be eagerly counting down the days until we see Christian back out on the footy field playing the game he loves.”

The Demons had always insisted Petracca would be at the club next year and adamant their relationship with the 2021 Norm Smith Medallist was salvageable.