Christian Eriksen's reported move to Manchester United is now off with both parties seemingly walking away from the deal, leaving the Danish international now facing the prospect of staying at Tottenham.
There are conflicting reports about who exactly pulled the plug on Eriksen moving to Old Trafford, but all agree that the deal is now dead in the water.
Eriksen is in the final year of his contract at Spurs and the 27-year-old indicated earlier in the summer that he was ready to "try something new", but had set his sights on a switch to Real Madrid.
The Dane had not been keen on joining United when the possibility arose earlier in the year, and now it seems that both parties have got cold feet despite talks taking place.
Discussions have come to an end so it looks unlikely that Eriksen will be heading to United, and time is running out if they are to add to their squad before Thursday's 5pm deadline.
Talk of a move for former Spurs striker Fernando Llorente is understood to have come as a surprise to those behind the scenes at Old Trafford, while it remains to be seen how the collapse of a swap deal involving Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku impacts any move for Juventus frontman Mario Mandzukic.
Wantaway striker Lukaku has dominated the agenda in recent days, just as he has for most of the summer.
Eyebrows were raised when he was pictured training with boyhood club Anderlecht at the start of the week.
United's players had a day off on Monday, and the club declined to comment about Lukaku's ongoing presence at the Belgian club on Tuesday amid reports they had expected him back.
Notwithstanding the Lukaku situation, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is understood to be largely happy with his squad.
Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James have all arrived over the summer, and the Norwegian has been impressed by the development of the club's young players during pre-season.
Teenager Mason Greenwood is in line to feature against Chelsea after being omitted from the under-21s' EFL Trophy opener at Rotherham on Tuesday - a match in which Angel Gomes, James Garner and Tahith Chong impressed.
The quartet will surely have roles to play in the first team this season, although PA understands loan moves are on the cards for some young players.
Questions remain over the future of experienced players like Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo, but ongoing transfer windows elsewhere in Europe could offer exit routes.
Rojo is among a surfeit of options at centre-back that only grew with United's world-record acquisition of Harry Maguire.
Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof and the injured Eric Bailly can all play there, so too Chris Smalling.
PA understands Everton asked about taking long-serving defender Smalling on loan, only to be informed he was staying put.
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