With only a few hours left of the January transfer market, Atlético Madrid have apparently given up in their attempt to sign Edinson Cavani from PSG due to issues with the player’s salary and Atlético’s inability to free up some cash by offloading a player or two themselves.

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Diego Simeone works on a strict salary limit at the Metropolitano and one that is already close to its maximum expenditure, meaning that to accommodate Cavani’s wages Atlético would need to shift a high-earning player like Thomas Lemar. However, the Frenchman remains at the club and Simeone will probably now have to turn his attention to getting the best out of the underperforming winger rather than welcoming Cavani into his goal shy squad. Lemar arrived at Atlético for a fee of 60 million euros amid plenty of fanfare in the summer of 2018 but has not yet lived up to that price tag.

L’Équipe reported on Thursday morning that Atlético had lodged a final bid of 18 million euros for the Uruguay forward, but that is still short of PSG’s asking price of 20 million.

Cavani willing to take pay cut to join Atlético

Another stumbling block is Cavani’s monthly salary: PSG are not willing to pick any of the tab for a loan move for the striker and even though Cavani has said he would take a pay cut to join Atlético it seems more likely that the Liga side will go back to Paris in the summer when the striker is a free agent.

In another indication that the proposed deal is dead in the water, Cavani’s brother and agent, Walter, was spotted by Spanish television cameras at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris late on Wednesday night, having been in Madrid since Monday trying to push the deal through.