MANCHESTER -- Joe Hart is set to sign a new contract with Manchester City imminently.
The goalkeeper, whose current deal expires in 2016, has been in talks with the Premier League champions for several months about an extension.
And manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed he expects the 27-year-old to give the club a boost by putting pen to paper soon.
"I always said it is important for this club to keep Joe with us," Pellegrini said in a news conference. "He is a very good goalkeeper and not only a very good goalkeeper, he is a very important player for the squad also, so maybe in the next days you will have good news."
Hart will become the seventh City player to sign a contract extension this year after Aleksandar Kolarov, Samir Nasri, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.
The former Birmingham loanee has made 275 appearances for City since his arrival from Shrewsbury in 2006.
Pellegrini dropped Hart for a spell last autumn but believes the Englishman has responded positively since the signing of a rival for his position this summer.
Pellegrini added: "Joe is having a very good season. The arrival of Willy Caballero was very important for the club, for Joe, for Willy -- for everyone -- because he is a very good goalkeeper.
"I think the best way for players to have high performance is when they have important competition in the other position. I think that was very useful for him and I am very happy about that."
Captain Kompany has had a series of hamstring and calf problems and Pellegrini believes his fully-committed style of football could make him more susceptible to injuries.
He explained: "Vincent maybe in the way he plays is more exposed to have injuries because he plays always with 100 percent intensity and he works every day in the same way, but we hope the same [thing happens] that happened last season -- [that] he will manage those injuries. They are important injuries [but] not very long injuries."
Striker Stevan Jovetic will miss Saturday's game against Everton, but Pellegrini said he expects the Montenegrin to be in contention to face Roma next week and brushed off questions over whether he is short of forwards by pointing out that Dzeko is available again to join Aguero in attack.
He added: "Stevan was just a precaution for this game. I hope he will not have any problems for Wednesday and Edin at this moment is 100 percent fit. So we hope with the three of them. We also have [Jose Angel] Pozo who is a good player. We can cover that position."