Premier League new boys Watford are no longer pursuing a deal for Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong this summer, according to the Lancashire Telegraph.
The 24-year-old has been subject of major interest from top-flight duo Southampton and Watford this summer, with the former having their opening bid for the forward rejected at the start of July.
As per Alan Nixon, Watford also made an approach for Armstrong and offered 30-year-old Andre Gray as a makeweight in the deal to provide a ready-made replacement for Tony Mowbray.
However, this approach was rejected with the Championship side reported to prefer a cash deal for the 24-year-old - and with the Hornets already bringing in Emmanuel Dennis, Ashley Fletcher and Josh King as attacking options over the past two months - they are now out of the race.
Although Southampton and Watford are the two clubs who have made a formal approach, West Ham United, Fulham, Newcastle United, Norwich City and Brighton & Hove Albion were also said to be in the running for the Rovers forward, who scored an impressive 28 Championship goals last term.
The striker has less than than 12 months on this current deal as things stand though, potentially persuading the Lancashire outfit to cash in on one of their prized assets to avoid losing him for free next summer.
The Verdict:
With Newcastle United due to get 40% of any revenue generated by Armstrong's potential sale this summer, Tony Mowbray's side will be desperate to get as much money for the 24-year-old as they possibly can.
Although the forward wasn't instrumental in getting them anywhere near the top six last season, his goals and partnership with Ben Brereton and Harvey Elliot steered Rovers away from the relegation zone and he will be a big miss if he leaves Ewood Park this summer.
Harvey Elliott's return to Liverpool was bad enough, but to lose Armstrong before the end of the window without adding one or two new arrivals to adequately fill that void would be a disaster for a side who have yet to make a signing and look light in many departments going into their Championship opener against Swansea City this weekend.
But with Armstrong unlikely to sign a new deal at Ewood Park considering the amount of Premier League interest he's generated this summer, it might now be the time to cash in on the forward if they have a couple of realistic targets they can bring in to replace his goalscoring threat.