Christophe Dugarry is poised to sign a two-year contract with Birmingham, says Birmingham manager Steve Bruce.
It was thought the Frenchman would only be committing himself to St Andrews for a further 12 months after the end of his loan deal from Bordeaux this summer.
But the World Cup winner has been offered a deal which would keep him with the Blues until the summer of 2005, and manager Steve Bruce is confident he will accept.
Bruce said: "Talks are going on but if I were a betting man I would think he will be a Birmingham City player for the foreseeable future".
"It was our suggestion that we would like to keep him for a couple of years. He has been thinking about it but it looks as if it is going to happen".
Bruce admitted: "A lot of people doubted Christophe when he came here but he has shut a lot of people up with his performances," Bruce said.
He also confirmed that a two-year deal had been offered to winger Stan Lazaridis.