Serie A champions Juventus have admitted defeat in their move for Blaise Matuidi after having their approaches rebuffed by Paris Saint-Germain, ESPN FC reports.
The Ligue 1 champions have made it clear that the France international, 29, is not available for sale and Juve will now focus on trying to bring in other targets after failing in their bid to sign their number one target.
The energetic midfielder was viewed as a potential replacement for Paul Pogba, who joined Manchester United earlier this summer for a world record transfer fee of £89m, but talks between the European giants made it clear that Matuidi would not be allowed to leave.
He is expected to sign a new deal with the French champions and Juve's CEO, Beppe Marotta confirmed their interest but revealed defeat in their pursuit.
Blaise Matuidi is set to sign a new deal to stay with PSG, says the club's presidenthttps://t.co/DzWhNWwJvt pic.twitter.com/AW0exBPkrJ
He told Mediaset: "We enquired about him but PSG's directors told us, kindly and politely, that he is not on the market.
"These things happen often during the transfer window. If they have made a declaration like that, I think we have to take note of it. I think negotiations for the Frenchman are over now, although you can never tell in football, but at the same time I don't think Matuidi will come back onto the market."
Juventus target £25m-rated former Stoke and Blackburn midfielder Steven N'Zonzi https://t.co/7vkbxld1hx pic.twitter.com/TqZ1fQblta
The Serie A champions have already had a successful transfer window so far bringing in Dani Alves, Medhi Benatia, Miralem Pjanic, Marko Pjaca and Gonzalo Higuain. Marotta, though happy with the signings so far, will continue to look to add more players to Max Allegri's squad.
Marotta added: "We've baked a really nice cake and hopefully we can still find the cherry to put on top of it, but even without, it's a very tasty cake."