West Brom manager Slaven Bilic says he has been "assured" a loan deal to bring Benfica midfielder Filip Krovinovic back to the club will be finalised by the end of the week.
Getafe and Bologna have been interested in the 25-year-old but Albion now appear to have made a significant breakthrough with Benfica after weeks of talks.
Krovinovic is now likely to sign a new deal in Portugal before returning to the West Midlands, where he had a successful loan spell last season.
"It will happen in next couple of days." Bilic said on Thursday.
"Filip - I've been told that he should be here by the weekend, the end of the weekend, so I'm expecting him to start training with us after we play Chelsea.
"So it will be done. I got assured from the director that he will come and as I said, he's there, but until it's over the line we can't guarantee that, but it looks like everything is sorted with Benfica."
Albion had been struggling to put a deal together given their tight budget restrictions and last week hopes had been fading the Baggies would be able to strike an agreement with Benfica.
However, public pressure applied by Bilic, who said he would be "extremely disappointed" if a deal wasn't made, appears to have accelerated the process.
Krovinovic played 43 times on loan last term - scoring three goals - to help West Brom return to the Premier League as they finished second in the Championship.
Albion, who host Chelsea on Saturday, have lost their first two Premier League games and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford on penalties earlier this week.
'I did nothing wrong'
Bilic maintained his innocence after being charged for improper conduct by the Football Association for his actions during his side's 5-2 defeat against Everton on Saturday.
The Croatian came on to the pitch at half-time and was shown a red card by referee Mike Dean for his protests, with the 52-year-old subsequently receiving a fine from the FA.
"I spoke to the people from the FA and to the club and I got a fine which I'm not happy about but it is obviously the easiest way to get it out of the way and from the head, so pay it," Bilic said.
"Still I think I had done nothing wrong because I just wanted to ask the referee - I was on the pitch because I had to go to the other side and I told the referee, just to ask him a question about what happened in the first half.
"If the rules are like that then it's not allowed, so be it, let's forget about but I still don't think - it's not that I don't think - I know that I have done nothing wrong, or my intention was not to do anything wrong, just to have a small chat, which I as a manager think that I am entitled to have."
Bilic entered the pitch following the first-half dismissal of Kieran Gibbs for pushing Everton's James Rodriguez in the face.
On whether he was clear on the FA's rules, the Baggies boss said: "But the clarifications, to be fair, they are clear. It says as far as I know that you can't enter the pitch. But the problem with the situation was I had to enter the pitch because, unless I go all the way around, I had to go on the pitch (to get to the away dressing room).
"My intention was basically to go to the dressing room but as I was walking on the pitch I saw the referee there so I wanted to talk to him.
"The rules are quite clear, the problem is our dressing room was on the other side of the stadium basically, but so be it. We have a big game in a couple of days so I am fully concentrated on that.
"Am I happy with the fine? No. Is it as a disaster pride wise or emotion wise? No, it's not, so let's move on."
Bilic will be able to take his usual place in the dugout for Saturday's match against Chelsea after the FA found no evidence of insulting or abusive language in its review into the offence.
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