Andrew Johns believes young Wests Tigers playmaker Lachlan Galvin will receive offers of $1 million, should he hit the open market at the end of this year.
Fresh off a standout rookie campaign at Concord, the teenager's manager has now come out and said Galvin would be available to rival clubs from November 1.
The comments – perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not – have come at the same time that the game's biggest contract was signed, with Dylan Brown heading to the Knights.
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Brown will stand to earn up to $1.4 million per season once he joins Newcastle as the type of numbers being thrown around for halves continues to grow.
His departure from Parramatta will give the club plenty of money to play with, as well as the need to sign a five-eighth to partner Mitchell Moses
And that's where Galvin could enter the equation according to Johns, who believes the 19-year-old could be wearing blue and gold sooner rather than later.
"They'll be buying probably one of the best young five-eighths in the game," Johns said on Wide World of Sports' Immortal Behaviour.
"Last week it was mentioned that from November 1 he can negotiate and his manager said to get the cheque books out.
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"I've got such a rap on him, he's an incredible player. He wants the big moments, but he's still raw as a sushi bar and he's only gonna get better.
"He's a 15-year playmaker and I'd be surprised if they don't throw everything at him."
While his deal at the Tigers is pretty reasonable for a player with one season under their belt, Johns believes the Eels would blow Galvin's current club out of the water.
"We are talking hypothetical, but if Lachie Galvin was to go to the Eels, the first offer would be $1 million – that's how crazy it is," he said.
"There's no quality halves and we have half a dozen ageing playmakers – DCE, Cody, Hunt and Reynolds – and there's no real, top-notch quality playmakers."
Galvin will take on Parramatta in round two at CommBank Stadium.
