Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett is confident Demarai Gray will stay.
The winger is baulking at agreeing new terms as Liverpool and Newcastle United circle.
"We are so close to January, at the moment we are in talks and hopefully those talks will progress," Rowett told the Birmingham Mail.
"In my experience, although at Championship level that's limited, when you are talking to players like that the deals don't get done in a matter of days.
"It becomes a matter of weeks to mull over all the different things that everyone wants.
"The key for me is that Demarai is happy, he's a local boy, he's playing football in the Championship at 18-years-old, therefore while he's doing and working very hard for the team.
"Hopefully those talks will progress but we are not in a huge rush really."