Barton’s agent Willie McKay has already claimed City would be willing to let the 24-year-old leave Eastlands if a prospective buyer met the £5.5m asking price which would trigger talks under the terms of his present contract.

And, while Blues boss Stuart Pearce refused to speculate on whether Barton would be staying or not, he confirmed a meeting had been arranged.

“We will be speaking to the player and his agent on Tuesday,” confirmed Pearce.

If, as expected, Barton does eventually leave, he could be accompanied by former skipper Sylvain Distin, who is out of contract in the summer and has already attracted the attention of Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.

Pearce claimed he was “hopeful” rather than confident of Distin staying with the club, although he did confirm up to eight players would be leaving.

Among them are Trevor Sinclair, whose departure was revealed yesterday, and young full-back Stephen Jordan, who has also been informed his contract will not be renewed.