NEWCASTLE officials are hoping to make significant progress in contractual discussions with Fabricio Coloccini and Danny Guthrie over the next few weeks.

The Magpies would like to tie both players down to new long-term deals before the turn of the year, and meetings with the duo and their representatives are scheduled before the end of the month.

Preliminary discussions have already been held with Coloccini, who is due to enter the final 18 months of his current deal in January.

The Newcastle skipper, the subject of strong interest from Spanish side Sevilla in the summer, is keen to remain on Tyneside, having shaken off a slow start to his Magpies career to progress into one of the most accomplished players in the Premier League.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is keen to keep him, and has instructed managing director Derek Llambias to do all he can to retain the Argentinian's services.

The problem is Coloccini's current earnings of around £80,000-a-week, which make him the highest-paid player on United's books.

Having successfully reduced Newcastle's weekly wage bill in the last 12 months, Mike Ashley will attempt to reduce Coloccini's pay packet by around half, something that will be resisted by the South American's agent. It is hoped that a compromise can be reached, but both parties will have to make significant concessions from their current position in order to strike a deal.

The situation with Guthrie should be rather simpler, even though it is only the quality of the midfielder's last two appearances that appears to have finally persuaded Pardew to offer a new deal.

Guthrie is due to become a free agent in the summer, meaning he will be free to talk to prospective employers in January if he has not agreed a new deal by New Year's Day.

At the start of the season, with the 24-year-old on the fringe of the first-team picture, it was envisaged that he could be allowed to leave in the next transfer window.

However, circumstances have changed dramatically in the last few months, with Guthrie leapfrogging Dan Gosling to establish himself as the leading alternative to Pardew's preferred central midfield partnership of Cheik Tiote and Yohan Cabaye.

He has impressed while deputising for Tiote in the last two matches, and produced a man-of-the-match display in last weekend's 2-1 win over Everton.

Peter Lovenkrands and Alan Smith are the other two senior players due to become free agents at the end of the current campaign, but at this stage, there are no plans to offer immediate new deals.