Blackpool defender Curtis Tilt is close to signing a new contract with the Seasiders

The centre-back has been offered new and improved terms with the Seasiders amid strong speculation linking him with a move away from Bloomfield Road for the second summer running.

The 27-year-old, who was the subject of interest from Ipswich Town this time last year, has since been linked with Portsmouth and Rotherham United this time around.

But Grayson appears confident of keeping Tilt at the club and believes they’re not too far away from coming to an agreement.

“These things are progressing and are along the way,” the Pool boss said.

“We want to keep him and we’re still talking. It’s not a point where we’re looking to sell him or anything like that.

“It’s basically just trying to get a few finer details in the contract and hopefully we can get it sorted.”

Grayson has only had a few weeks to work with Tilt but already he can see why the defender is so well thought of.

“He’s had a quick rise from non-league football and quite low down, not just the Conference,” Grayson said.

“He’s done really well for this football club hence why there was so much interest for him last year.

“There are still things he needs to work on like a lot of other players, I don’t care if you’re 35 or 18 you can still improve, but we want to work with every player.”

Last week Rotherham boss Paul Warne admitted defeat in his bid to sign Tilt, revealing he’s now looking at other targets.

It’s understood the Millers came close to signing the centre-back earlier in the window only for the Seasiders to renege on the deal.

The South Yorkshire side were expected to come back with an improved offer for Tilt, having recently sold defender Semi Ajayi to West Bromwich Albion for a fee believed to be £1.5m.

However, it is understood Pool have informed their League One rivals they won’t be entertaining any offers for their prize asset.

“It has been well reported that I’ve gone for a centre-half and the deal hasn’t come off even though we thought it was definitely going to happen,” Millers boss Warne told the Rotherham Advertiser.

“There is another player we enquired about (thought to be Leyton Orient’s Marvin Ekpiteta) a couple of months ago and we’ve upped our offer a couple of times.

“I’m putting in a bid for another one; I’m hopeful of bringing one of them in.

“The window stays open until the beginning of September so it’s not imperative we have one in for the start of the season.

“I just want to make sure I get the right one. I might have to start the season without one coming in but, ideally, we need another defender.”