Essendon's reconnaissance on big-name recruit Jake Stringer involved conversations with up to a dozen people in his life, including multiple meetings with his parents.

Bombers CEO Xavier Campbell has revealed the extent of the due diligence undertaken by the club before deciding to pursue the Western Bulldogs premiership player.

Campbell acknowledged the 23-year-old was "dealing with a lot of complex issues" but said the outcome of the Bombers' investigations had made them comfortable about taking him on.

"I met with Jake one-on-one early and I probably met with him two or three times – (once) in a group setting and twice one-on-one," Campbell told Melbourne radio station SEN on Wednesday morning.

"I just wanted to know him more as a person, what his motivations were, (and) know how he viewed the last few years and where he thought things hadn't been quite (at) the level that he wanted to be, to know what he thought he could have done better, to know where he wanted to go.

"I met with his parents a couple of times as well. Jake was dealing with a lot of complex issues and is living with his parents at the moment at Docklands. It was understanding a bit more about (things) from their perspective.

"You're collecting data, collecting information, and I reckon we spoke to 10 or 12 people in relation to understanding more about Jake's situation.

"Bottom line, you want to be comfortable that he was what he was saying he wanted to be … and he was absolutely committed to that.

"He met with the leadership group, he met with (coach John Worsfold). One-on-one he met with a whole range of people, and we felt comfortable that Jake was a good addition to our football club."

Asked whether Stringer remained a risky proposition, Campbell said: "I think anyone brings some sort of element of risk when they come into your organisation. Having met with him that many times and spoken to so many people, we wanted to reduce that risk and I think we got to the point where we did that."

The Bombers ultimately landed Stringer in exchange for draft picks 25 and 30.

In five seasons at Whitten Oval, he played 89 games and kicked 160 goals.

Stringer was an All Australian in 2015 and led the Dogs' goalkicking in the past three seasons with tallies of 56, 42 and 24.