Arsenal looked set to miss out on top target Alexandre Lacazette earlier this month after the France international admitted he was keen on a move to Atletico Madrid.
"I want to wait until the end of the season to discuss things with my agent and make the right choice for my future," said the Lyon forward. "You need to have some proposals on the table in order to make a choice, so I prefer to wait until the end of the season.
"Atletico Madrid are one of the clubs that have been linked in the press. They have a great coach, nice fans, a project and they obviously have Antoine Griezmann."
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas then told French publication L'Equipe that Atletico had reached an agreement with the player.
"Alex has a verbal agreement with a club, Atletico, but there is no certainty, since we have to wait for CAS to lift the ban on recruitment," said Aulas.
"We accepted Alex's request to discuss exclusively with this club, but the other side of that is that this transfer is made on our terms."
But that move has now been killed off, for this summer at least.
Discrepancies regarding their recruitment of youth players led FIFA to hand Atleti a transfer ban and significant fine.
The Spanish club appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but while their fine has been reduced the ban remains.
Atletico are unable to sign any players until January 1, 2018.
All this leaves Arsenal at the front of the queue to sign Lacazette, who scored 36 goals in 44 appearances last season.
The 26-year-old could still sign for Atletico, but he would either have to wait until January to do so, or, as Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal did at Barcelona, join the club and then wait for the ban to end before making his debut.