Emmanuel Adebayor's move to Lyon has fallen through, though the Ligue 1 club's president remains hopeful of clinching a deal.
With a spate of injuries to cope with, including to star striker Alexandre Lacazette, OL are seeking reinforcements, and the out-of-contract Adebayor, 32, had been expected to bolster their squad within the next 24 hours.
However, with the Togo international set to jet into Lyon, the deal hit a stumbling block.
"Our recruit could have been him, but in the end, it won't be him," Lyon's deputy CEO responsible for communication, Olivier Blanc, told L'Equipe after the club's 3-0 Champions League win against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.
However, Blanc's boss, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, hopes to keep the transfer alive, telling the same newspaper: "I love Adebayor. Is it possible? If he really wants to, anything is possible..."
With Lacazette, 25, sidelined for a month with a thigh injury sustained in Lyon's 3-1 Ligue 1 defeat to Bordeaux last weekend, Adebayor was seen as a credible replacement, and is available following the expiry of his six-month contract at Crystal Palace.
Though Adebayor has enjoyed mixed fortunes in England, the attacker has a firm fan in former Arsenal and Spurs teammate William Gallas.
"He's really the complete striker," Gallas told SFR Sport. "He's a forward who would be good for OL, because he can keep the ball, he's quick, he's a good header of the ball, he can shoot with both feet. I think he would contribute a lot to Lyon."