The Western Bulldogs have no desire to trade star midfielder Josh Dunkley despite interest from Essendon, according to list boss Sam Power.

Speaking to westernbulldogs.com.au on the opening day of the 2020 AFL Trade Period, Power reiterated that Dunkley remains an extremely important part of the Bulldogs’ plans for next year and beyond.

Dunkley is contracted to the Bulldogs until the end of 2022, with the Bombers making a strong push for the highly-rated 23-year-old.

“Essendon clearly have interest in him,” Bulldogs’ general manager of list and recruiting, Sam Power, said.

“From our end, Josh is such a valuable member of the club and the team. He’s in the leadership group, he was second in our best and fairest last year (2019) and is a fantastic player.

“Josh is someone we see being at this football club for a long period of time. He’s someone we want to keep at this football club.”

Dunkley was a member of the All Australian squad of 40 in 2019 on the back of a breakout season.

He missed a block of football in 2020 due to an ankle syndesmosis injury, but returned to have a big impact as the Bulldogs made the finals for the second year running.

“Josh has been up in Queensland since the end of the season and he got back to Melbourne yesterday,” Power said.

“We’ve had conversations with him over the last few weeks, just reiterating how important he is to us and that we see him here as a long-term player.

“We want him as part of the Western Bulldogs Football Club.”