Lille midfielder Ibrahim Amadou has reportedly been left mortified after being denied the chance to complete a switch to Crystal Palace.
The 24-year-old was involved in arguably the biggest saga of deadline day, having travelled to London via train and arrived at his destination ahead of the 11pm cut-off point.
Amadou was waiting in Palace's London office for the green light to finalise his switch, with a medical already understood to have been completed, but permission never arrived despite pleading to the French club's chiefs.
According to Sky Sports News, a move ultimately failed to materialise due to Lille's failure to recall Xeka back from his loan spell at Dijon as cover.
Palace are understood to have offered Les Dogues, under a transfer embargo and unable to sign new recruits, a £2m loan fee and a further £14m to sign Amadou permanently at the end of the season.