Bolton manager Owen Coyle has confirmed the club has agreed a fee with Chelsea for defender Gary Cahill.
It emerged last week that talks had begun between the two Premier League sides over the sale of the England international, who is out of contract at the end of the season and has for some time been linked with a move away from the Reebok Stadium.
And it seems a deal is now imminent, with Coyle revealing that agreement over a fee - believed to be in the region of £7million - for the 26-year-old has been reached.
"There has been a fee agreed between the clubs and we have now given Gary's representatives permission to speak to Chelsea," said Coyle, speaking ahead of Bolton's New Year's Eve home clash with Wolves.
"That is where we are with it. We obviously have a game tomorrow and I have said to Gary that he has to be focused on giving everything for Bolton Wanderers, because he knows Bolton Wanderers has been terrific for him just as much as Gary has been for us.
"That is why they have representatives - to sort that out - and whatever January 1 brings, it will bring."
Cahill's move to Chelsea, though, is not a foregone conclusion after Andre Villas-Boas revealed the club and the player's representatives were "miles apart" in their negotiations over personal terms.
"We're still miles apart regarding agreement with the player," he said.
"We will continue to monitor this situation as we continue to monitor the other targets for this position."
Villas-Boas would not go into details about the impasse with Cahill or whether Chelsea had made a take-it-or-leave-it offer - but he was nevertheless hopeful of a positive outcome.
"I think we can sort it out - it should be no problem," he said.
"It's in my chief executive's hands at the moment. It's an ongoing conversation.
"We'll have to wait for the best outcome. The best outcome for us is for the player to join us."
