Sevilla want to keep on-loan Inter Milan forward Stevan Jovetic at the club but the forward's high wages are a stumbling block.
Jovetic, 27, joined Sevilla on a six-month loan deal from Inter in January and scored six goals while setting up four more in 21 La Liga appearances to help the club finish fourth and seal a place in Champions League qualifying for the 2017-18 campaign.
The Montenegro international is under contract with Inter until June 2019 but Sevilla have an option to buy the player before June 15 for €14 million.
However, Jovetic's wages -- a reported €4m per season -- are a big hurdle for Sevilla, according to the club's sporting director Oscar Arias.
"We need to study Jovetic's situation," Arias told Sevilla's official website. "What is clear is that we would like to sit down with the coach [Jorge Sampaoli] to see what profile of players he is looking for considering the options that we have.
"Our idea is to work towards him [Jovetic] continuing with us. There are difficult contractual circumstances but our intention is that he stays with us."
Jovetic's future and Sevilla's transfer plans will not be decided, however, until Sampaoli's own future is clarified.
Sampaoli is under contract with Sevilla until June 2018 but is expected to leave the club this summer to take the reins of Argentina's national team.
"Everything seems to indicate that Sampaoli's spell at Sevilla has ended and that he will soon leave," Arias said. "We are waiting for everything to materialise in order to work towards Sevilla's 2017-18 squad.
"As soon as things happen, we will sit down with the new coach and start planning. The sporting department is the one that takes decisions but we would like for those to be in line with that of the coach."
Sevilla hope to keep their top players but Arias claims they cannot stop other clubs from going after their stars if they meet their release clauses.
Spain international Vitolo is among those Sevilla players to have attracted attention from top European clubs after another strong season with the Andalusian outfit.
A reported target of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, Vitolo said earlier this week that he is happy to stay but would "accept to leave Sevilla if the club decides to sell him." He is under contract with Sevilla until June 2020 and has a buyout clause of €40m.
"It's normal that when a team does a good job clubs show an interest, but we don't contemplate for any important players to leave," Arias said. "We want to grow and we are ambitious.
"Obviously, we all know how football is and at times there are clubs that come and pay the release clause. We don't have the financial strength of other clubs to pay the players what they are worth in the market. There are times when you struggle to hold on to players and you can only force the situation up to a point."