Swansea City are keen to keep in-demand star Gylfi Sigurdsson, but manager Paul Clement acknowledges the "business side" of the game means he may lose his prized asset.
Everton and Leicester City are pursuing a move for the former Tottenham attacking midfielder, who the Swans reportedly value at £50million.
Sigurdsson, 27, scored nine Premier League goals and contributed 13 assists last season to help Clement's men stay in the top flight and could now be on the move.
"I have made it very clear I want him to stay here," Clement said to BBC Sport after Swansea lost 1-0 in Wednesday's pre-season friendly at Barnet.
"The fans want that, the owners would like that but, ultimately, there's a business side to football as well.
"We had that situation with Jack Cork. In the summer there was no thought of moving Jack on but it got to a point when another club came in with a really good offer.
"That might end up being the case with Gylfi. We don't know yet."
In a separate interview with Sky Sports, the manager said: "I know there is a lot of speculation and clubs that are strongly interested in him, but there's nothing more than that at the moment.
"We have not rejected anything and Gylfi has not come to us and said, 'I want to leave'.
"He is a player here at the moment. We are not sure whether he is going to be here for this season. If another club comes up with the right valuation, according to us, then it would be a different matter possibly."
Swansea, who have brought in Erwin Mulder, Tammy Abraham and Roque Mesa in the transfer window, want the matter to be dealt with swiftly.
"The sooner the better," said Clement. "You don't want to be in a situation where it's dragging on through July and all through August, when the season's started, with the situation not being resolved.
"He's one of our most valuable players. He showed that last season with his goals and his assists, and he was instrumental in us maintaining our Premier League status.
"I don't know how people are going to behave in the future. I know the kind of character I worked with last year - someone who's very professional.
"He's come back, he's got his head down and he's doing his work, so I hope that continues."
