Arsenal and Barcelona cannot come to an agreement on the format of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's wage demands, putting the move under significant threat.
The 32-year-old is understood to be paid around £350,000 a week, and Barcelona's budget could not extend to that without getting Ousmane Dembele off the budget.
The Independent reported earlier on Monday that the Catalan club had offered Dembele to Arsenal, but he had no interest in going, and they ultimately couldn't find an option for him.
That put the Aubameyang deal under strain to the point that Barcelona are being forced to walk, pending any dramatic late turnarounds.
It could have bigger repercussions since Mikel Arteta has frozen the player out of the Arsenal squad, and the Basque potentially has the problem of a player on the biggest wage in the squad training on his own.
There had already been some bemusement within Arsenal earlier on the day when Aubameyang travelled to Barcelona, although a deal had not at that point been agreed.
As it stands, the failure to find a deal for Dembele has meant Aubameyang cannot go to Camp Nou.
And that means Arsenal risk leaving themselves short since he is not part of Arteta’s plans.
Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah would be left as the club’s only two strikers and Arsenal may well look the loan market themselves before the window shuts.
