Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper is confident of striking a deal with leading coach Brad Gilbert "in the not too distant future".

Gilbert, who has coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, is being targeted as the ideal man to help guide Andy Murray into the world's top ten and give the whole of British tennis a much-needed boost.

A deal has been in the pipeline for a while and the LTA are still busy working through the complexities of a possible arrangement.

"Hopefully we will have him on board in the not-too-distant future," said Draper.

"We are still talking to Brad. It is a big commitment for him. He lives out in the States.

"Belief and confidence has been lacking in British tennis and Brad is the sort of person we believe can help inspire some of our talented young coaches and drive British tennis up to world-class levels, where we aspire to be.

"As with all these things there are complexities, working out the number of weeks and schedules. Brad is a busy guy.

"We want Brad on board but we also want him to be fully committed."

Draper added that Gilbert, a 44-year-old American, could continue to be based in California, though he would need to spend time at the LTA's new national centre in Roehampton.

"If this deal did come off we would want to spend quite a bit of time in Roehampton but tennis is a global sport and we don't mind where our players train," said Draper.

"We just want more in the top 100 in the world and get back to winning ways."