Ipswich Town have already begun contract talks with players whose deals are due to expire next summer.
Manager Paul Lambert has previously stated his desire to improve the way the club deals with players' contracts, with the Scot working to renew a string of deals during the final months of last season.
The Blues are due to announce this summer's retained list by the end of this week, with the likes of Dean Gerken, Grant Ward and Tom Adeyemi all out of contract, but work is already ongoing regarding deals expiring in 2020.
Cole Skuse, Gwion Edwards, Ellis Harrison and Andre Dozzell are among those players whose contracts expire next summer.
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"That's an ongoing process and that hasn't just started happening now, that's been happening since way back in January," said Lee O'Neill, Town's general manager of football operations.
"We have looked at the way the players and contracts look at this club and, when you're trying to build something, you have to have people involved to make sure we can plan for the future.
"Those negotiations are going on with players and, most importantly for the football club, is that they want to be here and be part of this journey.
"Everyone's on board and it's important for players on the pitch to be a team."
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Talks remain ongoing with those players whose deals are up in just a few weeks, although it's understood Jordan Spence, Jonas Knudsen and Simon Dawkins will all be moving on when their contracts expire.
"We still have talks ongoing with players and we hope to be out with a retained and released list within the week," O'Neill said.
"Conversations are still happening and we'll have news on that soon.
"We have players who are under contract, out of contract, fit and injured so there's a lot to take into that context when you look at it."
Gerken, Ward and Adeyemi all have one-year extension options in their contracts, with O'Neill confirming those clauses are still able to be activated at this late stage.
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"We can still take the options and there's a window for that," he said.
"There are rights for both the club and the player and the longer you leave that, the less rights there are for either side.
"But the options can still be taken up."
___________________________________________________
IPSWICH TOWN CONTRACT SITUATION
IN LAST YEAR (WITHOUT EXTENSION OPTION)
Knudsen, Collins
IN LAST YEAR (WITH EXTENSION OPTION)
Gerken, Ward, Adeyemi, Spence, Webber, Dawkins
CONTRACTED UNTIL 2020
Skuse, Edwards, Harrison, Roberts, Dozzell, Rowe, Sears, Clements, McGavin, Dobra, Kenlock, Emmanuel
CONTRACTED UNTIL 2021
Chambers, Bialkowski, Nsiala, Nolan, Jackson, Huws, Folami, Cotter, Nydam, Drinan, Morris, Wright, Donacien, El Mizouni, Bishop, K Brown, Judge
CONTRACTED UNTIL 2022
Lankester, Woolfenden, Ndaba, Downes
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