Martin Demichelis is likely to sign a new contract with Manchester City soon, according to manager Manuel Pellegrini.
The veteran defender's current deal expires in the summer and City risk losing the Argentina international on a free transfer.
But Pellegrini, who also managed Demichelis during his time at River Plate and Malaga, has reiterated his keenness to keep the 34-year-old at the Etihad Stadium.
And he believes Demichelis is close to agreeing terms, saying in a news conference: "We will see, in the next days maybe he can renew his contract.
"I think Martin is a very important player for our squad, he is an experienced player, he is a leader of our group, he wants to stay, probably he will sign another contract."
Demichelis joined City from Atletico Madrid for 4 million pounds in September 2013 and became captain Vincent Kompany's regular partner in the centre of the defence as they won the Premier League title.
He has gone on to play 63 times for City, scoring three goals, while Pellegrini is looking forward to the debut of a more prolific player against Newcastle on Saturday.
Wilfried Bony is finally available to play, more than a month after his 25 million-pound move from Swansea was finalised.
Pellegrini believes the 26-year-old Ivorian could be the "perfect" addition to his squad.
He explained: "He plays a lot of years here in England, he is the player that scores most goals [in the Premier League] during the last year. He is a player we need in our squad after we sold Alvaro Negredo.
"I think he has all the conditions to be an important player because we try always to play with two strikers. He is the perfect player for our squad."
Pellegrini sees a resemblance between Bony and the departed Negredo, who left to sign for Valencia in September.
He added: "He is not exactly the same player but, yes, he has a lot of similar things that are important for our squad."