Melbourne mid-forward Alex Neal-Bullen made it clear that he'd like to return to South Australia for family reasons, and the club is willing to grant his wish.

With ultimately only two clubs in play, Neal-Bullen has announced his preferred club of choice, with Adelaide set to win the signature of the 2021 premiership player.

The 28-year-old has been a stalwart of the Demons over the past decade, playing 176 games and being a crucial part of its success in recent times.

Neal-Bullen went public two weeks ago with his request, flagging how special his time has been at the red and blue.

"Since day one, I've felt the love from the footy club, so to make the decision to head home is an incredibly hard one," Neal-Bullen said at the time of his trade request.

"It's something that I thought long and hard about, and had some really open and honest conversations with my wife, Georgie, about where our best future lies.

"The decision became clear that I need to put my family first, and move our family back to South Australia.

"For the club to allow me to do the best thing for my family, I can't thank them enough.

"They've embraced me as an individual, and they've allowed me to grow into the footballer, but also the now father, that I am.

"I'm forever grateful that I've been able to play for this great club and still have two more games that I want to pour everything into, to make sure we finish the year off really strongly."

Neal-Bullen's departure comes as the club is still attempting to retain Christian Petracca, despite his desire to leave, whilst small forward Kysaiah Pickett expressed his concerns in his exit meeting, with reports indicated that he has flagged homesickness.

As the Crows are set to sign the Demon, the club also has heavy interest in luring GWS' Isaac Cumming and Gold Coast's Jack Lukosius.