Madrid - Ivan de la Pena is all set to continue at Spanish Liga club Espanyol, according to the websites of Catalan papers Sport and Mundo Deportivo on Friday.

De la Pena, 33, is about to extend his contract with Espanyol for two more years.

The club's sporting director German de la Cruz said on Friday that "we have the beginning of an agreement. When both parties want to continue, things are very easy."

De la Pena has been Espanyol's playmaker and key figure since joining from Lazio in 2002. The mercurial little midfielder started his career at Barcelona but got on badly with coach Louis Van Gaal and was controversially sold to Lazio in 1998.

Last season De la Pena was instrumental in saving Espanyol from relegation, with his raking passes and eye for goal.

Espanyol are close to signing Israeli striker Ben Sahar from Chelsea and Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura from Celtic.

On Thursday they sold midfielder Jordi Gomez to Premier League club Wigan Athletic.(dpa)