Bolton Wanderers boss Owen Coyle says New York Red Bulls defender Tim Ream should arrive this week.
Ream is being lined up as a replacement for Chelsea signing Gary Cahill.
"Do you ever want to lose a player of Gary Cahill's quality? No," said Coyle. "But circumstances have brought it about and we wish him well.
"He is an outstanding player and an outstanding young man. Hopefully I can bring someone in, which we are very close to doing.
"We had Tim Ream in for a week and we would like him. We are close but we need to get an application in for a work permit so we don't want to get ahead of ourselves.
"We want to be respectful to the MLS but we are trying to bring it to fruition."