Chelsea defender Malang Sarr saw a late loan move to Greuther Furth collapse on deadline day, despite travelling to Germany to complete the move.
The Bundesliga side were negotiating the move and were preparing for a medical, but talks for the 22-year-old couldn't be concluded.
The free transfer signing from Nice had struggled to find a transfer due to his relatively high wages at Stamford Bridge. Having spoken to his agent, Federico Pastorello, earlier in the week, the central defender had fielded interest from Brest and Eintracht Frankfurt but no switch occurred.
What next for Sarr?
Even though Sarr featured in pre-season for Chelsea, a place in Thomas Tuchel's squad feels unlikely as he has been training and playing friendly matches as part of a separate loan group at Cobham in recent weeks.
The likely scenario now is that Chelsea will explore the option of sending Sarr to either Russia or Turkey, with their transfer windows still open.
There are other leagues able to sign players beyond September 1 but these two are most likely to be able to afford a loan move for a senior player from the European champions.
Sarr's situation is compounded by an underwhelming loan spell at Porto last season.
Is anyone else in the same situation?
Chelsea have also been left with Ross Barkley, who had fleeting deadline-day loan interest from Burnley, but a move was seen as too expensive for Sean Dyche's side.
Former England Under-21 international Lewis Baker has also been left stranded but he had a good year in Turkey with Trabzonspor last season and that could allow him a chance to avoid being stranded at Chelsea until the next transfer window in four months.
In Charly Musonda's case, the 24-year-old forward has suffered a torrid time with injuries after over 18 months out with a knee issue.
Although he has overcome the career-threatening injury, the playmaker has yet to prove himself on the pitch after testing positive for Covid-19 and missing most of pre-season.
The ex-Belgium Under-21 international may opt to use the facilities at Cobham to regain fitness before leaving on a free transfer next summer.
Although a move has not yet been announced, Tino Anjorin completed a medical amid a loan move to Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday night. The deal includes a £17 million ($23m) option to buy but it would also trigger the option for the Blues to buy him back in the future for £34m ($46m).
