Stoke City are hoping to resolve the future of their captain Ryan Shawcross long before the Premier League season kicks off on 12 August.
Chief executive Tony Scholes also says the Premier League club are still trying to agree a permanent deal with FC Porto for last season's 25-year-old loan defender Bruno Martins Indi.
"Everything has to fall into place before a deal gets done," said Scholes.
"It's not just us, not just Bruno and his agent, there's Porto as well."
As for 29-year-old Shawcross, who has a year of his existing contract still to run, Scholes told BBC Radio Stoke: "When you've got important players, you want to do something sooner rather than later.