Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli is expecting contract talks with the club to play out smoothly, in a strong indication the superstar midfielder will not be going anywhere.

Dogs fans cannot yet breathe a sigh of relief, but there is little chance of Bontempelli departing Whitten Oval any time soon.

Discussions have begun between Bontempelli, 29, and the Bulldogs on a new deal that will likely see one of the greatest players to pull on the red, white and blue become just the eighth player in the club’s 100-year history to play 300 games.

“It’s going well, obviously it’s getting to the point now where things will start to open up, those conversations will happen,” Bontempelli, who missed the first six games of the season due to injury and proposed to his partner last November, said on Friday.

“There was a lot going on in my life early on in the season and hence why I, no different to other years, took my time a little bit with it.

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“Those conversations will definitely start to take place, pretty much as of next week. So the ball will well and truly get rolling with that. I see it going quite smoothly.”

Despite speculation that Collingwood are interested in a blockbuster trade to move him across Melbourne, Bontempelli said no such offer had been relayed to him through his manager Tom Petroro.

“That information never really came to me at all, to be honest,” Bontempelli said.