CARLTON and West Coast have finally agreed on a deal that will make Chris Judd a Blue. The only small snag is the consent of Josh Kennedy, the young forward whom Carlton has agreed to trade along with draft picks three and 20 for Judd.

While Carlton and West Coast finally agreed to terms late yesterday on a deal that would deliver Judd to his chosen destination, Kennedy had not yet agreed to join the Eagles despite having undergone a medical at West Coast after meeting with club officials yesterday.

While Kennedy's consent should not be a problem, his manager, Wayne Loxley, said last night his client wanted to "sleep on it" before deciding whether he was willing to become a West Coast player. Kennedy's wish had been to remain with Carlton, even though he is from Western Australia.

Loxley said Kennedy wanted to play at Carlton, "because that's the club he's at, and that's where his mates are".

But the Judd deal is expected to be finalised today, and Carlton will wait until the dawn of next season before making a decision on whether Judd becomes captain in his first year.

Under the deal, Carlton hands draft picks three and 20 to the Eagles, along with forward Kennedy, who was pick No. 4 two years ago, in return for the game's best midfielder. To seal the deal, West Coast also handed over the seemingly irrelevant draft pick 46 to Carlton — a choice the Eagles would not have used, anyway.

The Blues had wanted pick 30, but that choice had already been pledged to Richmond as part of the Mitchell Morton trade.

Carlton chief executive Greg Swann said the club was obviously delighted to have all but secured Judd while retaining the first pick in the national draft, which the Blues are expected to use on ruckman Matthew Kreuzer.

Swann said the Blues we're "really happy" to have reached an agreement with West Coast. The Blues were particularly pleased to have retained the first pick in the draft, while securing "the best player in Australia".

Swann, who played a key role in persuading Judd to choose Carlton over Collingwood, confirmed that Judd would be offered a five-year contract, but the question of whether he would be given the captaincy would not be resolved until February.

Sources said Judd had indicated that he would not entertain accepting the captaincy until he had settled in at his new club and been accepted by teammates.

"Our process is that the leadership group will vote on it, in February or so. It will be recommended to the match committee, the match committee will come to the board — so that's the process," said Swann. "I'm not sure if he's going to do it, or not going to do it. We won't know till then anyway."

The key to the agreement between Carlton and the Eagles was West Coast's willingness to drop its demand for the first pick in the draft.

Loxley said Kennedy was facing "a very, very big decision".

"This is one of the pitfalls of the system that he's in. At 18 he's taken from his home, another state, he assimilates and does everything right … then two years later, bang, we want you to go somewhere else," he said. "And he's 20 years of age. It's not an easy decision. He wants to play at Carlton, because that's the club he's at, and that's where his mates are. All of a sudden now, it's a different situation. It's not so much a contractual matter."

Loxley said Kennedy had not thought it was "a serious possibility" that he would be traded until 36 hours ago.