Essendon has been urged to “follow through” on its guarantee that captain Zach Merrett will remain at the club and see out his contract.

It comes after new Bombers president Andrew Welsh, a day into the position after succeeding Dave Barham, guaranteed on Tuesday that Merrett wouldn’t be going anywhere this off-season amid burgeoning links to a Hawthorn move.

On Wednesday morning, Welsh, in an interview on SEN, disagreed with Demons great Garry Lyon’s assertion that Merrett was “disgruntled” at the Hangar, with the star midfielder having spoken to Hawks officials including coach Sam Mitchell about a potential trade.

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