Chairman Huw Jenkins expects Swansea to face a battle to sign star midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson when his loan deal comes to an end this summer.
The Icelander has been a revelation since joining the Barclays Premier League side from Hoffenheim in January, scoring seven goals in 15 appearances.
Sigurdsson, who previously worked with Swans manager Brendan Rodgers at Reading, has said he would be happy to stay in south Wales but Jenkins knows persuading the German club to sell the 22-year-old is another matter.
He told BBC Radio Wales: "He's done a great job for us and is still only young. Our aim is to keep our best players. We've always tried to do that over the years and it will be no different with Gylfi.
"The fact is when you take a player on loan, control is out of your hands. They (Hoffenheim) wouldn't commit to do a deal before we took him, which we would have loved to have done.
"But we've got to hope that his relationship now with the club, with the players and with Brendan has helped him in the Premier League, and he sees us as a great option next season if he's allowed to leave his club in Germany.
"No doubt there's going to be a bit of a battle on our hands to secure his services for next season. The other thing is they (Hoffenheim) have had a change of manager as well and he's still contracted there for a couple of years."
Jenkins is also hoping Tottenham will sanction another loan deal for Stephen Caulker, who has impressed alongside Ashley Williams in central defence.
