Celta Vigo sporting director Miguel Torrecilla is confident Barcelona target Nolito will sign a new bumper deal at the Balaidos, reports AS.
Nolito, 28, currently has an €18m (£13.2m) release clause and has been strongly linked with a return to Barcelona as they seek a replacement to Pedro when their transfer ban is lifted in January.
Celta will reportedly offer the Spain international a new one-year extension that will tie him down until June 2020 and increase his release clause to €25m (£18.4m).
However, Torrecilla still concedes Celta are likely to lose Nolito when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year as they look to extract his maximum value from Barcelona.
“When there is a release clause in a contract nobody can guarantee anything; nobody can prevent it from being triggered,” the Celta director is quoted as saying by AS.
“If at the end of the day it is met, there has to be a satisfactory result for the project and the club has to be prepared for any circumstances that arises in that aspect.
“The deal is on the table, we’ve discussed it and we’re waiting for the document to be finalised. We assume that this contract extension is a mere formality; we’re just waiting for the signatures.
Nolito is currently in the form of his life having directly contributed to eight of Celta’s 15 league goals this season and produced one of his finest performances of the campaign in a surprise 4-1 thrashing over Barcelona last month.
For more stats on Nolito, click here to visit his WhoScored player page