Everton manager David Moyes is "very close" to signing a new contract with the club and expects to do so within the next fortnight.
Moyes, 45, admits that trying to sign new players recently has delayed him from agreeing terms on a new deal.
"I want the best for Everton and don't want to let the players down," he said.
"I have told them that there will be more players coming to help them along the way. I want to make sure that is done before anything else."
He added: "That is more important to me just now. But [the new contract] is very close."
"Hopefully in the next week or so I will get it tied down and get it done."
Moyes, who joined Everton as manager in 2002, confirmed in mid-July that he had opened talks on a new contract with chairman Bill Kenwright.
The Scot has 12 months left on his current deal but made it known that he wanted assurances on this summer's transfer budget and the club's future direction.
Everton, who finished fifth in the Premier League last season, are yet to make a major signing this summer - though Sporting Lisbon claim they have turned down an £11.8m offer from the club for Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho.
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Moyes submitted an ambitious five-year plan to owner Kenwright that was designed to build on the club's last campaign but it remains to be seen how much cash he has to spend.
"Every manager wants to get as much as he can and I'm no different but I do think I've always been supported and I'll always be grateful for that," Moyes told the Liverpool Echo on 14 July.
"When I took this job I knew that there were not vast sums of money."
Everton are on the verge of selling striker Andrew Johnson to Fulham, in a deal which BBC Sport understands could eventually rise to £13m.
The England international had a medical with the London club on Tuesday.
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