GEELONG recruiting manager Stephen Wells has confirmed that defender Jeremy Laidler has requested a trade to Carlton.
Laidler, 21, has played just two games for the Cats but was elevated to their senior list at the end of last year. He had spent two seasons as a rookie.
Wells said the Blues would have to put a very good offer on the table during the final hours of trade week if they were to snare Laidler.
"Obviously Carlton have approached him at some stage and convinced him there would be better opportunities up there at Princes Park," Wells told afl.com.au's Trade Week Radio on Monday morning.
"It's fair to say Carlton have been interested in Jeremy for a couple of years. They brought his name up at last year's trade period as well.
"This year they brought his name up at the start of the week and through his management they've convinced him that he should go.
"He's received a good contract offer from Carlton and we do respect that. It's not a total surprise."
With the trade deadline looming, the Blues are confident they can get a deal done."Jeremy made a decision on Friday that he wanted to come to Carlton and both clubs have sat over the weekend on what may or may not be a reasonable trade for Jeremy," Blues general manager of football operations Steven Icke said.
"Knowing Geelong pretty well - Stephen Wells is a very reasonable man - we believe we will be able to come to terms on that trade."Laidler has, however, been offered a contract by Geelong and the club has not given up hope of keeping him."He's part of our future planning and unless a decent deal can be done … well then we'll hang onto Jeremy and in the coming month or so try and convince him that staying at Geelong is a good option," Wells said.Late last week, Geelong traded midfielder Nathan Djerrkura to the Western Bulldogs for pick 57 in next month's NAB AFL Draft.
Follow our complete coverage of the 2010 AFL exchange period from October 5-11. No trades are official until paperwork has been accepted by the AFL and formally recognised after 2pm on Monday, October 11.
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