"Parramatta CEO Paul Osborne made no secret of his desire to bring Barrett west, but denied he had already put pen to paper when he spoke to the Mercury yesterday.
"He hasn't signed anything yet," Osborne said.
"We're waiting to see if he's going to retire."
It is believed the Eels have quite a bit of money in the salary cap to throw at Barrett after Krisnan Inu, Feleti Mateo and Kris Keating all announced they would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
While Barrett has emerged as the favourite to partner youngster Daniel Mortimer in the halves in 2011, Osborne said the club was still undecided.
"We have three options: Trent Barrett, Brett Kimmorley and Matt Orford," he said.
"I've already spoken to Barrett's manager Wayne Beavis, and I'll be catching up with Orford and Kimmorley's manager George Mimis (today)."
Beavis originally denied having any negotiations with Parramatta, but after it was revealed that the Mercury had already spoken to Osborne, the player manager conceded he had met with the Eels.
"They said they would be interested in Trent but no formal offer has been made," Beavis said.
"I haven't even discussed it with him because he hasn't made up his mind if he's going to retire."
It was understood Cronulla were keen to keep their skipper at the club next season, but were also waiting on his decision to make a play for him.
"I think they would love to keep him," Beavis said.
"I'm sure that once he says he's going to play he'll be open to offers.
"But at this stage there's nothing in front of me."
Who is really doing the recruiting for this team anyway? I have heard nothing from Anderson [at this stage] to say this is what HE wants. Osborne is the problem at his club. It is he that got into a battle with Canterbury over Mortimer & it is he that was behind signing Tahu for way more than he is worth. Now it is Osborne saying HE wants BAZ here to work with Mortimer. Can anyone confirm Anderson gets any say in this??
