There will be no last-minute surprise and no curveball from Adam Cerra.

Early next week, foxfooty.com.au understands the midfielder will nominate Carlton as his preferred home for 2022 and beyond.

Once he does, Fremantle and the Blues will get to work negotiating a suitable trade, which will surely include Pick 6.

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Melbourne’s presentation to Cerra was strong, but ultimately the Demons poor draft hand and commitment to key players made any potential move to the red and the blue infeasible.

Other clubs asked the question too. Richmond was in the hunt for a bit. As reported by foxfooty.com.au on August 11, they pivoted towards the draft and withdrew from race for Cerra.

Cerra will leave Fremantle after 76 games in the west. His decision to depart is almost entirely around family rather than football.

At the Blues he will slot into a team nicely positioned with Michael Voss at the helm. Alongside Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps, Cerra will add class to the midfield.

A fit Charlie Curnow alongside Harry McKay will give him plenty to kick to, while Jacob Weitering is every bit the player the Blues planned for when they selected him with Pick 1.

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The Dockers can also make the best of a bad situation. Although they wanted to keep Cerra and were prepared to offer him a two or four-year deal to satisfy him, they will go to the draft with two top-10 selections if Peter Bell can convince Nick Austin to hand over Pick 6.

Fremantle may want more, but the Blues will not want to hand over Pick 25 as well. List manager David Walls has money to spend and is understood to be keen to bridge the gap between David Mundy, Nat Fyfe and Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong in the engine room.

Lachie Neale would have been nice, but that ship has sailed. Stephen Coniglio is from WA but is surely too expensive unless GWS agrees to pay a portion of his wage.

So the worst case scenario for Fremantle, which probably doesn’t expect to contend for a flag until 2023 anyway, is they get two elite young kids in and save money for the following trade period.

Ultimately, Cerra’s manager Robbie D’Orazio would not allow his client to nominate a club if he didn’t think a trade could be orchestrated.

As reported by Jon Ralph in the Herald Sun, Carlton will also get George Hewett as a free agent on a four-year deal worth about $450,000 per year.

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