Matthew Lloyd in black and white stripes?

It's pie in the sky stuff according to Collingwood assistant coach Mark Neeld - it's just not going to happen.

The prospect that Collingwood is waiting to swoop on the veteran Bomber should he fail to come to terms with Essendon on a continuing involvement for next season was canvassed in the _Herald Sun_ on Wednesday.

According to the report, there are several clubs circling should Lloyd walk away from Windy Hill.

But, according to Neeld, Collingwood is not one of them.

"With respect to Matthew Lloyd who's an outstanding footballer, it hasn't been discussed at our football club," said Neeld.

"I would say it would be unlikely to be discussed that we would be targeting a 31-year-old captain of an opposition AFL club."

"We are looking at promoting youth and if you look at our forward line, it's quite a youthful area."

"I would highly doubt whether that's going to be discussed at our list management meetings, to be honest."

Lloyd's future at Essendon has been an issue since mid-season when coach Matthew Knights declared that whether or not Lloyd plays on is entirely up to the player himself, and that he would support Lloyd whatever his decision.