Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold hopes to retain his entire foreign legion but says there are no plans to put contracts on the table until after this A-League season is done.
With an eye to next campaign, Arnold has already locked in six of his all-conquering starting XI while the signature of a seventh local, skipper Alex Brosque, is a mere formality.
Yet the future statuses of his foreign quintet remain in the air.
Milos Ninkovic, Bobo, Filip Holosko, Jordy Buijs and Milos Dimitrijevic all come off contract at the end of June.
All have played key roles in the Sky Blues' record-breaking campaign, the first four starting nearly every game.
The club's focus is undoubtedly Ninkovic, the star Serbian playmaker and Johnny Warren Medal favourite at the crux of so many masterful attacks.
Efforts will be made to upgrade the 32-year-old to marquee status at the expense of either Brazilian striker Bobo or Slovakian winger Holosko.
But Ninkovic's blocked preseason attempt to leave for the Middle East, and this week's admission he may want to spend more time with his parents back home, does not bode well.
Holosko's retention could in part depend whether on-loan winger Bernie Ibini signs permanently or gets recalled to parent Belgian side Club Brugge.
Asked how many imports Arnold thought would stay, there was a distinct pause before he spoke.
"Um, hopefully all five, we're talking to all five," he said.
"All of them are patient and happy. Ninkovic, Bobo, Holosko, Dimitrijevic, they don't want to really have discussions until after we win the grand final.
"They're not pushing us to put any contracts in front of them or anything, they just want to keep playing and keep winning."
Another factor is Sydney's guaranteed place in the AFC Champions League, which allows for three foreigners plus an additional Asian import.
"At the moment we've got five foreigners -- four Europeans and a Brazilian," Arnold said.
"We learnt a lot of lessons out of last year's ACL and we'll discuss that after the grand final."
Sydney will welcome back Socceroos Rhyan Grant and Danny Vukovic on Saturday night when they attempt to beat Melbourne City and eclipse the all-time record for most wins in a season (currently 18).
But Dutch centre-back Jordy Buijs is in doubt with quad tightness suffered during last week's 3-0 thumping of the Perth Glory, opening the door for Aaron Calver to partner Alex Wilkinson.
Apart from that, Arnold confirmed his regular XI will start at Allianz Stadium and there'll be no temptation to rest key players over the final three rounds, despite having already won the Premiers' Plate.
"I've never really believed in rotating too much," he said.
"Momentum is key, players like minutes and consistency."