Brighton have been handed a blow in their pursuit of Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Garcia.
The striker has struggled for minutes so far this season at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite enjoying such a promising pre-season under Xabi Alonso at the Club World Cup, where he scored four goals in six appearances.
Despite playing such a prominent role for Los Blancos in the tournament, Garcia has hardly featured for Madrid over the past few months, starting just one La Liga match and coming on as a late substitute in nine other games.
The 21-year-old has therefore been linked with a move away from Spain in January to accelerate his development and gain some regular first-team football, and Brighton have previously been named as being among his suitors.
The Seagulls are said to have already made contact with Madrid to explore the possibility of signing their academy graduate on loan if he were to be made available, with Sunderland and Leeds also keen.
However, it does not appear that a race to secure the signature of Garcia will be on the cards this winter, with The Athletic reporting that the Spanish giants have already knocked back a request from rivals Getafe to sign the forward on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
Alonso has no intention of parting ways with the academy graduate in January, and he is planning for Garcia to remain as part of his squad for the second half of the season. As a result, Brighton will need to rethink their plans for the winter window now that one of their top targets is off the market and assess other attacking reinforcements who could be attainable.
Plenty of change appears to be in the pipeline in the Spanish capital over the coming months, and thus having the Garcia available is likely to be viewed as more beneficial to Madrid than allowing him to develop elsewhere for six months.
Endrick, who has also been linked with Brighton previously, is expected to leave the club on loan to join Lyon in January, which will leave Alonso short of striker options, and the Spaniard’s ongoing internal conflict with Vinicius Junior is presenting another problem for the ex-Bayer Leverkusen boss to deal with when it comes to his frontline.