Off-contract Manly prop Siosaia Vave says he is still hoping to stay at Manly despite reports linking him with a 2017 shift to cross-town rivals Parramatta.
Vave did however confirm the Eels are one of the clubs in the frame for his signature, but he is still working through the details with his manager; in the interim he wants to put all his focus into winning games with Manly.
"I'm still working on it with my manager. I'd love to stay, I love the club, I love the fans, I love what Manly's about," Vave said.
"But some blokes are on a bit better money than me and I'm trying to get a bit of money myself but that's the honest truth, I'm just trying to sort it out right now. I'll worry about playing my game this weekend and worry about being better for the team."
He said the Eels are "one of the options" currently being looked at.
"But like I said I'm 100 per cent with Manly right now and whatever happens in the near future happens but I love Manly, I want to be here, I love the supporters and I like what the club's built," he added.
"I know there's been a lot of blokes coming and going over the last year or so and I want to be here to build something alongside the Jake Trbojevics, the Tommys [Trbojevic], the Addin Fonua-Blakes, the Liam Knights. That's a big thing for me.
"If it doesn't work out it doesn't work out, that's football, it's a business now. I love football and I love Manly, that's the big thing for me."
The fact multiple clubs are in the conversation to sign the 117kg 27-year-old is a testament to his improvement since rocking up to Narrabeen weighing 134kg and coming off a serious pectoral injury, as he revealed to NRL.com back in February.
"It's always good to have a couple of clubs interested in you and that's the problem, 18 months ago I didn't know where I'd be this time of year or if anyone would have taken me. I'd be digging holes if I didn't pull my finger out," Vave said.
"I'm really happy where I'm at at the moment but I'm just happy to kind of be here in the situation we are and it would be a problem if I didn't have any clubs looking at me but I'm happy and football's really good, life's good at the moment after three in a row."
