St Johnstone's bid to sign Roman Eremenko has collapsed.
Simo Valakari turned to the brother of Kilmarnock icon Alexei as he attempts to bolster his Saints squad this month with the club nine points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.
It looked like the Finn, who has 73 international caps and has racked up £25m in transfer fees during his career, was going to be a crucial addition.
However, tonight it has emerged that the move has been scrapped after the Scottish FA refused to endorse a work permit application.
The 37-year-old had been due in Scotland this morning to formalise the move.
Saints had to ditch their attempts to sign the midfielder after the SFA panel rejected their desire to submit a work permit.
It's believed that the player's age could've gone against him in this instance.
The McDiarmid Park club was recently successful in gaining approval for Swedish midfielder Jonathan Svedberg's work permit.
Eremenko was banned from the sport for two years between 2016 and 2018 for cocaine use.
