Sebastian Coates is set to make a permanent move to Sunderland, after the North East club agreed a £4 million fee with Liverpool for the centre-back.
The 24-year-old spent the 2014-15 campaign on-loan at the Black Cats, making 13 appearances in all competitions, and manager Dick Advocaat is keen on retaining the player's services full-time.
The 6ft 5in defender is thought to be one of a number of names on a list which Advocaat handed to sporting director Lee Congerton after renewing his contract with the club, and it appears that the two parties are now close to an agreement.
It was the Dutchman who handed Coates much of his game time at the Stadium of Light last season, after he had originally found opportunities hard to come by under former boss Gus Poyet.
Coates' impressive form during the run-in, which saw Sunderland stave the drop late on for the second consecutive year, made him an ideal candidate as the club look to strengthen their defensive options.
The defender has rarely been a regular at Liverpool - only starting back-to-back games for the Reds on two occasions, all four of which were games in cup competitions.
His only highlight in a red shirt came in the form of a sensational, and rather uncharacteristic, overhead kick away at Queens Park Rangers in a 3-2 loss in March 2012.
Despite Brendan Rodgers' side's continued defensive instability, Coates remains surplus to requirements after Liverpool brought in 18-year-old centre-half Joe Gomez for £3.5 million earlier this month.
Defender fails to live up to potential on Merseyside
The Uruguayan, who arrived as a highly-regarded young prospect after being awarded Best Young Player of the 2011 Copa America, has made just 12 Premier League appearances since joining in summer the same year.
Coates has not featured for Liverpool since coming on as a late substitute for Jamie Carragher in the veteran defender's last ever game, a 1-0 win over QPR on the final day of the 2012-13 season.
An injury sustained on international duty in August 2013 ruled him out for much of the 2013-14 season, where he would spend time recovering at former club Nacional back in his home country - making five appearances in a loan spell.
Coates went on to feature in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil the following summer, but he played only two minutes as a substitute in his country's 2-1 win over England in the group stages.
Despite struggling for game time under Poyet, the arrival of Advocaat allowed Coates to push himself into Sunderland's plans and he started six of their final seven games last season, in which they kept three clean sheets and lost only once on their way to survival.
Coates has more recently been in action for his country in the ongoing Copa America tournament in Chile, filling in for Diego Godin in their final group match - a 1-1 draw with Paraguay, though his involvement was ended when the hosts' 81st minute winner in a quarter-final sent a Luis Suarez-less Uruguay crashing out.
That has since paved the way for the Black Cats to come to a conclusion to resolve the player's future.