Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers remains confident Jonny Evans will sign a new deal.
The defender’s current contract expires at the end of the season but he is in talks over a new two-year offer.
Evans joined from West Brom for £3.5million in 2018 and Rodgers believes the former Manchester United centre-back will extend his stay at the King Power Stadium.
“I would think we’ll be pretty close on a deal, hopefully very soon,” he said, ahead of Sunday’s Premier League visit of Brighton.
“Importantly Jonny wants to be here. He sees the path the club is on, we move to a new training ground in the very near future so for him, at this stage of his career, he is at an exciting time at a club which is looking to move forward.
“Hopefully we can move forward on his deal and that will be complete very soon.
“He has been instrumental in what I’ve tried to do since I’ve come in. He is very much a coach for me on the field. He understands the game at the highest level, he understands the journey of where we’re trying to get to.
“He’s been there and knows what is required. His value to me, the coaches and team is huge. He knows we want him here.”
James Maddison has trained after missing Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League win over AEK Athens with a minor knee issue and will be fit.
Timothy Castagne is close to a return from a hamstring injury but is likely to miss out on Sunday while Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira (both groin) are unavailable.
Despite a raft of injuries, Leicester are fourth in the Premier League having also reached the last 32 of the Europa League and Rodgers has been proud of his players’ efforts.
He said: “We have been constantly playing with very little coaching and preparation time. It was about adaptability, in a physical and tactical capacity.
“My ideal player is able to interpret different ways to play and different styles. They have coped with it really well and they have great honesty. So far it’s been very good but it’s still relatively early in the league.”
