Bayern Munich sporting director Christoph Freund has expressed his confidence that Joao Palhinha's proposed summer move to Tottenham Hotspur will be wrapped up quickly.
Thomas Frank's side begin the new Premier League campaign in exactly three weeks, hosting newly-promoted Burnley. In that time, the manager hopes to introduce at least one new star to his squad.
Palhinha's arrival from Bayern is now lined up as the manager wants a specialist defensive midfielder to join the plethora of all-rounders that previously occupied the club's engine room.
Spurs have been successful in striking a similar deal with the German champions as they managed for Mathys Tel back in January. Their new midfielder is set to sign on an initial season-long loan followed by the option of a €30m (£26.1m) permanent deal next summer.
And as quoted by German outlet BILD reporter Heiko Niedderer, Allianz Arena sporting director Freund suggests there should be no hitches in the impending deal.
"If everything goes smoothly, it won't drag on endlessly," he said before teasing: "Soon..."
Palhinha was not included in Vincent Kompany's squad on Saturday afternoon as the Bundesliga heavyweights defeated French side Lyon 2-1.
His last appearance for the club was on June 24 - in a FIFA Club World Cup group stage reverse to Benfica - which proved to be his only performance at the tournament as the midfielder was benched for the other four matches in the United States.
While the 30-year-old's time in Germany has been troubled, he did enjoy a two-year spell in England beforehand with Fulham. In total he made 79 appearances under Marco Silva - scoring eight goals - and was named the club's Player of the Season in 2022/2023.
Frank had, previously, been coy about which profile of players he wanted to add to his squad, saying: "That is something I would like to keep very private. We're out there in the market and we're aware where we, maybe, want to strengthen the squad in general.
"I'm happy with the squad and we've already done a top signing in Mohammed Kudus coming in - and is showing us his quality already. We've got a squad where there is a lot of talent in and quality but, of course, we're looking."