Star midfield Bradley Hill spoke to Fremantle football manager Peter Bell as early as June about moving to a Melbourne club next season, with his manager meeting with club’s this week to help facilitate a trade.

Hill’s trade request is official, with his manager Colin Young already meeting with St Kilda, who are the early frontrunners to snare the 26-year-old after a career-best season.

The Dockers have made it clear they will “act in the best interests of our stakeholders” when negotiating a deal for the contracted midfielder.

Hill, who is contracted until the end of 2021, played out the final rounds of the season after making his request and shapes as one of the ‘big fish’ in the upcoming player exchange period.

“Obviously Brad has asked to be traded back to Melbourne,” Hill’s manager Young said on SEN on Wednesday.

Don't miss the latest sports news! Was $13 now $7 per week for 12 weeks* (Digital + Print) Enjoy unlimited access to thewest.com.au and everyday digital editions on any device. Thursday - Monday papers home delivered with all of the latest footy news! *T&Cs apply

“We did it quite early because you want to make sure the club knows what’s going on.

“So back in June/July we had a conversation with Peter (Bell) and it was an honest conversation saying that Brad for family reasons would like to move back to Melbourne.

“You obviously like to keep that private and confidential, so I don’t know how that snuck out.”

Fremantle acknowledged Hill’s request on Wednesday, saying: “We have an understanding that Bradley wants to return to Victoria for family reasons. However, as club when we consider the matter we will act in the best interests of our stakeholders.”

Young is meeting with Melbourne clubs about Hill this week and said the star wingman was “down the track” with one in particular.

He said a return to Hawthorn, where Hill won three premierships, was unlikely, and an announcement on his preferred club could be made as soon as next week.

“We’ve had a conversation with St Kilda,” Young said.

“When you have these conversations you try and keep them limited because you don’t want it to get out and the less people you speak to the less chance it’s going to get out.

“We had a couple of chats with two or three clubs. I did personally, and then I went back to Brad to see where that fits.”