Marquee midfielder Diego Castro is among those out of contract, although the club are in talks with the 35-year-old.

Burns added: “It’s ongoing. He’s a fantastic player.

“We work diligently through every player on the list to make sure it all fits in.

“That’s as much as we can say at the moment.

“Castro is a legacy player. We’ll see where it lands.

“There’s obviously a host of other players out there.

“The phones have been ringing hot. We need to make sure that every piece of the jigsaw puzzle fits.”

Spanish marquee Diego Castro's future in Perth is unclear

Popovic said in his conversations with Sage the pair had agreed to an annual salary cap spend but wouldn’t reveal the specifics, insisting it was irrelevant.

Glory spent under the salary cap in 2017/18.

“I know what we can spend and I’m happy with that,” Popovic said.

“I don’t see why that matters. We’ve agreed with what’s in front of us, we’ll deal with that and build a strong team.

“Be positive. There’s no need to search for something there, with a bit of money here or bit of money there. We’ll build a strong team, that’s for sure.”

Popovic also said he’d look to bring in one assistant coach too.