The club is understood to have fielded expressions of interest from two clubs, one of which is believed to be Turkish giant Galatasary.

Jets director of football Remo Nogarotto said the club would look overseas to find a replacement.

"To be perfectly honest, there is very little available in Australia, of quality that is," Nogarotto said.

"If you're going to lose Jade North, you need to replace quality with quality. So it's looking very much like a replacement for Jade might come from overseas."

Nogarotto said the Jets were uncertain which club was after North, but he said "whispers" pointed towards Harry Kewell's new club, Galatasaray.

Nogarotto said the transfer fee for the last year of North's contract would be in the vicinity of $700,000.

He also said the chances of retaining the Jets skipper were slim.

"On the balance of probabilities you'd have to think that one of these offers is likely to crystallise in a move for Jade," he said.

Jets coach Gary van Egmond conceded the thought of losing his skipper and top central defender "takes the mat out from under you feet a little bit".

"'You're talking about someone who's in the first 11, not just with the Olyroos, but the Socceroos," van Egmond said.

"It's difficult to find someone of Jade's ilk as a straight replacement, so we're obviously going to have to search high and wide to see what we can do."

North played in last night's 1-0 loss to Argentina in Shanghai and could not be contacted by The Herald.

The Jets' A-League winning captain was to partner Adam Griffiths in the central defence once he returned from the Olympics.

If North heads overseas, he will be the second defender to leave the Jets since the grand final, after Andrew Durante signed with Wellington Phoenix.

Griffiths will partner either Beau Busch or Antun Kovacic in the central defence this Friday against Central Coast.

Van Egmond said Busch and Kovacic would have greater responsibility on their shoulders now.

North's likely departure from the A-League champions could also impact on the potential signing of Cameroon striker Brice Severin Bikoko, because the club only has one of four visa spots available.

The other three are filled by marquee signing Edmundo Zura, Jesper Hakansson and Jin-hyung Song.

Bikoko is still yet to be granted an appropriate visa to travel to Australia for a trial.