CHRIS Dawes' manager believes Collingwood and Melbourne will work "pretty quickly" to honour his client's choice of a new home, but the Magpies say it's far from a done deal.

The premiership forward's manager Ben Niall revealed on Friday afternoon Melbourne was Dawes' preferred new home, following the Magpies' acquisition of West Coast big man Quinten Lynch.

Niall said the Pies had been "terrific" since Dawes informed them he would seek opportunities elsewhere last week, and believed a trade for potentially a late first round NAB AFL Draft selection would quickly be reached.

"I'm pretty confident. We've done a fair bit of work. I've been talking to Collinwood throughout the process and I'm confident they should get a deal done pretty quickly," Niall told Gillette AFL Trade Radio.

"[The Magpies] have been good to us and I think there's a pretty good understanding of what it will take to get it done."

Melbourne has two picks in the first round - No.4, which is a compensation pick for Tom Scully, and No.20, which was part of the deal completed earlier in the week with Greater Western Sydney that gave the Demons a selection in the mini-draft, to be used on Jesse Hogan.

While selection No.20 seems a logical swap for the 24-year-old, the Magpies don't expect negotiations to be that simple.

"It depends what Melbourne are going to put on the table as an offer, whether that's a draft pick or player or combination of," Collingwood director of football Geoff Walsh said.

"I'm not going to say that off the top of my head because it's only news that's come through to me in the last 15 minutes that Chris wants to go to Melbourne.

"Unofficially, there's been a number of clubs who have had interest in Chris and that's been well documented.

"I would think from what the speculation has been and some of the preamble with talking to other clubs, I think there's probably some better offers around than pick 20, to be blunt.

"It's certainly not a done deal."

Carlton, the Western Bulldogs and most recently, the Brisbane Lions, have also reportedly shown interest in Dawes.

Walsh said Dawes' contracted status meant there was no reason the Pies had to quickly deal with Melbourne "just for the sake of moving a player on".

"Perhaps Melbourne is thinking they've got the hardest part [done], they've got the player wedded to them, but maybe that's the easiest part," Walsh said.

Niall said Dawes' decision to name Melbourne came down to a preference to remain in Victoria with his long-term girlfriend, and be part of assembling the culture at a young team.

"He had to chose between going to a club that was more in contention again and being a bit of a role player, or he could choose an opportunity to be involved in creating a culture and playing a real leadership role," Niall said.

"When he came into Collingwood, there was already a terrific culture in place, which had obviously a huge influence on his own football and his own output and the like.

"The opportunity to go to another club where he's really going to be responsible for helping build the culture and the values and the way you do things … those things appeal to Chris.

"I think it's a good challenge and a good opportunity for his own personal development that he wouldn't necessarily get at Collingwood."

The Demons confirmed on Friday they had been informed of Dawes' decision.

"We can confirm that Chris Dawes has indicated his desire to be traded to the Melbourne Football Club. We will now be working to facilitate a trade with the Collingwood Football Club," Melbourne list manager Tim Harrington said.

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham