Portsmouth chief David Lampitt is upbeat over the prospects of David James staying.
Lampitt and Steve Cotterill met with James for a 90-minute meeting on Thursday.
West Ham United, Fulham and West Bromwich Albion are among clubs monitoring the situation.
But Lampitt told The News: "We had a positive meeting and talked through quite a lot.
"The meeting lasted for an hour and a half. It was really positive and we talked around a lot of detail in terms of the future of the club and his potential involvement in the future of the club.
"I would say I was really encouraged by his understanding of the position the club are in. He gets it. David has a real passion for the club and the supporters here.
"He understands the future is going to be slightly different but hopefully a whole lot better. It would be fantastic for the supporters and a huge statement about what David is about if he stayed.
"It would speak about his attitude and philosophy, about what he wants to be involved in and what football is all about to him."
