BOLTON Wanderers chief Phil Gartside believes Jay-Jay Okocha is ready to commit himself to another three years at the Reebok.

The fans favourite captained Wanderers in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Aston Villa before finally linking up with the Nigeria squad for the African Nations Cup tournament in Tunisia.

Contract talks will resume when he returns and Gartside says he is confident of a positive outcome.

The chairman said: "We've had two or three discussions and we both know what we want.

"I think Jay-Jay will be a Bolton player for the next three years and that's good news for everybody."

Sam Allardyce echoed the chairman's confidence, stressing that he believed Okocha wanted to stay beyond the period of his current two-year deal which expires in June although he is wary that if top clubs come calling, Wanderers would have difficulty keeping him.

"If one of the top European sides said they wanted him, there's nothing much we could do -- like Fulham and Luis Saha," the manager said.

"We try and make it so good for them here that they don't want to go anywhere else but, if any major club comes for one of my players, they'll go, whether they are contracted or not."