Perth Scorchers remain keen to retain their superstar Finn Allen amid a Big Bash League-wide bidding war for the New Zealander’s services, which may remain weeks away from an official resolution.

Allen was a central figure in the Scorchers claiming their sixth title last summer, finishing as the BBL’s leading run-scorer with 466 at an average of 42.63 and a blistering strike rate of 184.18.

The two-year deal worth approximately $420,000 per season he signed when he joined the club in 2024 has expired and several of Perth’s rivals have made preliminary offers which would make him one of the best-paid players in the competition’s history.

Melbourne Stars are believed to have informally extended terms potentially worth as much as $600,000 per season to the dynamic opening batter, while Adelaide Strikers have also been credited with an interest.

The West Australian understands the Scorchers are eager to keep Allen in orange, but the competition’s contract embargo remaining in place amid mooted changes to rules governing the recruitment of overseas players still being finalised means his future is currently open-ended.

Allen was initially signed by the Scorchers outside of the BBL’s overseas player draft, which came on the proviso he needed to make himself available for the entirety of their campaign and could not defect to a rival competition midway through the season.

The draft appears certain to be scrapped in favour of a return to allowing clubs to directly sign all of their non-Australian players, but Cricket Australia and the BBL are yet to publicly confirm any changes to the system, leaving players like Allen in limbo.

On the eve of last season’s finals, Allen told The West Sport Show he was eager to remain with the Scorchers into the future.

“I love it here, Perth as a whole, it’s a beautiful part of the world and I am certainly loving time here and I would love to come back,” Allen said.

“We’ll see what next year looks like.”

Allen is a hugely popular figure among the Scorchers’ playing contingent and has forged a particularly strong friendship with up-and-coming superstar Cooper Connolly.

He brought his hot Scorchers form into last season’s IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders and is currently playing in England’s The Hundred for Trent Rockets — under his Scorchers coach Adam Voges, who is serving as their assistant.

The Scorchers have captain Ashton Turner, Australia all-rounders Mitch Marsh, Aaron Hardie and Connolly, veteran spinner Ashton Agar and pace aces Jhye Richardson, Mahli Beardman, Lance Morris and Joel Paris under contract for next season.

They did not re-sign Josh Inglis before the contract embargo began, but the star wicketkeeper-batter’s status as a likely member of Australia’s Test squad for both a home series against New Zealand and a subsequent tour of India means he may only be a limited participant in the concurrent BBL.

If the Scorchers need to replace Allen, they may have access to a wider pool of overseas players than they otherwise may have thanks to England visiting for a white-ball tour of Australia in November.

While most of England’s white-ball stars have favoured playing in the South Africa’s SA20 competition since it was launched in 2022, some could be attracted by the prospect of remaining in Australia for the entirety of the northern hemisphere’s winter.