Eddie Betts’ manager has rebutted claims by embattled Carlton coach Mick Malthouse that the Adelaide cult hero had agreed to sign with the Crows 18 months before he left the Blues.

Betts made the switch in 2013 after Carlton decided not to match the Crows’ four-year deal.

During an explosive interview with Melbourne radio station SEN on Tuesday, Malthouse said Blues chief executive Steven Trigg told him the Crows had Betts “stitched up 18 months out”.

Trigg previously held the same role at Adelaide.

Betts’ manager immediately refuted the claim.

“That is 100 per cent incorrect,” he tweeted.

Malthouse made the remarks while discussing Carlton’s playing list, which he described as “shallow”.

He said the list had been slashed by 50 per cent, and while he thought the Blues had some promising young players on deck he wished they had retained other more experiences stars including Betts.

“I’d still love to have a number of players here, Betts is the most classical one because he’s a goal kicker,” Malthouse said.

“But Steven Trigg assured us when he arrived here, ‘Don’t take it too personally’. He said, ‘We, being Adelaide, had him stitched up 18 months out’.

“So it’s very, very difficult when you come to the football club and a bloke like that plays cautious football because his heart and soul, or certainly his mind, was everywhere else.”

Betts has produced stunning form this season for the Crows, slotting 29 goals after eight rounds to make him the second-highest scorer to West Coast’s Josh Kennedy.

During his final season at Carlton he kicked 27 majors, compared with 48 and 50 in the two seasons prior.