Melbourne has launched an audacious bid to hijack Carlton’s bid to lure talented midfielder Adam Cerra from Fremantle in a Zoom presentation.
Cerra, the No.5 pick in the 2017 draft, is understood to want a move back to Victoria to be closer to his family and Carlton has been widely touted as the favourite to land his services.
According to a report from The Age, despite having a preliminary final to prepare for, a Demons contingent including senior coach Simon Goodwin, football performance boss Alan Richardson and list manager Tim Lamb found time to pitch Cerra this week.
The reported added that Cerra was “said to be extremely impressed” with the presentation from the Demons brass.
However, despite any interest from the 21-year-old, Melbourne could find a roadblock due to not having the trade capital Carlton possesses to send to Fremantle in return.
It is understood that Melbourne could offer Cerra similar terms to Carlton on a contract in terms of both the length of the deal and the monetary figure.
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While the lure of premiership success is greater at Melbourne, Carlton still remains the favourite due to the trade capital it has at its disposal, centered around its first-round pick in this year’s national draft – currently slated to be pick six.
The Age report also adds that Fremantle would be likely to ask for WA native and AFL Rising Star winner Luke Jackson in return for Cerra, with Melbourne not prepared to include the talented big man in any deal.
Jackson, the No.3 pick in the 2019 draft, has enjoyed an outstanding second season in AFL, playing 22 games and kicking 15 goals this year.