ADELAIDE will not consider trading star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, the club’s head of football David Noble says.

Since the end of the 2014 season, speculation has increased that Adelaide may consider trading Dangerfield, who qualifies for free agency next year.

Collingwood and Melbourne had reportedly inquired about Dangerfield, but the Crows will not consider trading their most exciting talent.

“There’s no interest in Patrick Dangerfield; he’s not on the table, he’s not going to be,” Noble said during the first day of the NAB AFL Trade Period.

“I don’t know why all the kerfuffle continues to unfold.

“It’s a ridiculous suggestion. Patrick is a required player and we’re really comfortable with where it’s at.

Noble said he was confident Dangerfield, 24, would remain at the club for the long-term.

“You back your system in. Those stars are really hard to develop, hard to find and you just don’t let them go,” he said.

“It’s just not going to happen.”

Collingwood recruiting manager Derek Hine said his club had spoken to Adelaide about the possibility of snaring Dangerfield but the Crows were quick to dismiss the idea.

Noble indicated Adelaide’s new coach would have a say in the Club’s trade period activity.

Noble, who is part of the coaching selection committee, said he expected the Crows to appoint a successor to Brenton Sanderson by the end of the week but wouldn’t buy into speculation about the possible candidates for the role.

“We’d like to think it’ll be sooner rather than later. It’s a pretty lengthy process you’ve got to go through to find the right candidate. We think we’ll be in a position by the end of the week,” he said.

“I can’t comment on the details of the process. I think that’s unfair on the candidates. I’m not going to comment on who those candidates are. We’d like to keep things fairly tonight and we’ll announce our coach at the right time.”

Noble revealed out-of-contract midfielder Jarryd Lyons’ name had been raised at the trade table.

“There is some interest in Jarryd Lyons. I spoke to his management on Friday and we’re keen to put a contract to them this week,” he said.

The Crows have identified a ruckman, a defender and speed as areas of need this offseason.

Noble said the Club was working towards addressing those areas.

“We’ve got some small irons in the fire and we’ll see how that unfolds,” he said.

“We do have a need for a ruckman. It just depends on what style you’re going for. Once we land the coach, he’ll need to have some input into that as to whether they want to play two (genuine) rucks or a more athletic ruck as that second forward/ruck.

“That will unfold as we go through the trade period.”

Noble also responded to questions about former defender and now GWS co-captain, Phil Davis, who has been the subject of media speculation.

“Phil’s a good player. We know the reasons that he left (our Club) under those sort of circumstances. He’s in contract at GWS. I don’t see him moving,” he said.

“If he became available, we’d certainly be interested in talking to GWS.”