After months of speculation, Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith has confirmed his wish to depart Whitten Oval, but is yet to nominate his preferred landing spot.

The Bulldogs said on Monday they would work to ensure they were “fairly compensated” for the out-of-contract midfielder, who has played 103 games and was one of the best players of the 2021 finals series.

Smith, 23, has been linked to Geelong, Collingwood and Hawthorn this season, but was yet to confirm where he wanted to play in 2025.

He tore his ACL during pre-season training in December and did not return to play this season, only joining training sporadically at Whitten Oval in recent months.

“Western Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith has informed the club of his desire to seek a trade this off-season,” a Bulldogs statement read on Monday.

“The 23-year-old is yet to nominate a preferred club. Given Bailey’s immense talent, age and proven ability to influence games, the club will work diligently to ensure it is fairly compensated throughout the process.”

Smith’s move comes as premiership Bulldogs Jack Macrae and Caleb Daniel, who are contracted until 2027 and 2026 respectively, weigh up their futures after struggling to find consistent game time in the senior side this season.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said his midfield brigade had been “strongarmed” in the 37-point elimination final loss to Hawthorn on Friday, and flagged an intent to bring in more midfield talent from other clubs or through the draft.

“No one came here tonight thinking that we’d be strongarmed in the game, and I think in the end, Hawthorn strongarmed us,” Beveridge said.

“We’ve been able to show (aggression) … it’s got to be part of your make-up, you don’t win these big finals if you haven’t got integrity in the contest and you don’t deal with pressure well.

“It’s such a big occasion for us to go down and be humbled in that area … that’s, coming away from the game, the biggest concern coming out of it.

Asked to compare Smith’s ACL recovery to pair Sam Docherty (Carlton) and Daniel McStay (Collingwood) who both made comebacks this season, Beveridge said the Bulldogs had not been willing to take the risk with the younger midfielder.

“It’s an 11-month turnaround (for the Bulldogs), that’s tried and true, we make sure the player is ready, we don’t want recurrence,” Beveridge said last week.

“Bailey wasn’t operated on by (club surgeon David Young), but we’re sticking to our 11-month protocol because we want to make sure that Baz is OK to have a bright future in the game.”