Aaron Ramsey's future has be thrown into further doubt, with current club Juventus appearing to decline to hand the Wales star a squad number for the new season.
The Wales international has been heavily-tipped to leave Turin this summer, having returned from an injury-plagued six-month loan spell with Scottish giants Rangers. Ramsey's stint at Ibrox culminated in a devastating penalty shootout miss in the Europa League final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of the season, and he returns to Italy having made just nine starts under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
There's already a suggestion that Juve have lost patience with the Welshman, with reports in the Italian media suggesting the club are ready to cut their losses and buy Ramsey out of the final year of his contract, which in turn would make him a free agent.
At the time of writing, sources have told WalesOnline no such proposal is currently on the table, but that's not to say Juve won't still be plotting a way of severing ties, and this latest apparent snub will only further fuel the narrative that the former Arsenal man has come to the end of his time in Serie A.
Ramsey's name is noticeably absent in the squad list on Juve's website, while the club shop are no longer offering 'Ramsey 8' as an option to print on the back of their new home kit, which was released earlier this summer.
Speculation over his next move is likely to step up a notch over the coming weeks, with the bookies mooting a possible emotional return to hometown club Cardiff City.
Bluebirds fans will understandably be reluctant to indulge themselves in those links after the emotional exhaustion of the Gareth Bale saga. In fairness, it's worth stressing there is no indication a move for Ramsey is even remotely plausible at this stage.
In fact, the chances of a return to the capital were heavily played down by sources close to the player when links first emerged, and there's little to suggest that stance has changed.
In any case, Cardiff's hopes would hinge on Juve actually following through with the mooted contract termination, although even then, the financial barriers in terms of wages would surely still make any swoop highly unlikely.
Following Gareth Bale to the MLS is another option proposed by the bookies, while it appears that a move to Turkey was once on the cards.
Former boss Andrea Pirlo seemingly failed in a bid take Ramsey with him to Fatih Karagumruk this summer, with club president Suleyman Hurman revealing that a move had more or less been agreed before the plug was pulled.
Hurman said: "We practically reached the stage of an agreement with Ramsey but then we gave up."
Wales boss Rob Page is one of those who will be taking a particularly keen interest in what happens next, with Ramsey set to be a key part of his plans for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
“At the end of the camp, at the end of the last game, I will have that conversation,” Page said when asked about Ramsey’s future during the recent international break.
"If he has to go back and do a pre-season to see where he is at, then he’ll probably do that and make that decision before the [transfer] window closes, to get out and maybe have another loan move or whatever.”
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