Burnley target Mislav Orsic to stay at Dinamo Zagreb

Clarets chairman Alan Pace was in Croatia last night as he looked to wrap up a deal for the Croatian international, but this morning, his club have put out a statement on their social media channels, saying: "In recent days, great interest from the public and fans has been causedby the possible transfer of Mislav Orsic to the English club Burnley.

""Continuing on this topic, GNK Dinamo informs the public that the decision has been made that Mislav Orsic remains a Dinamo player and we look forward to participating with his teammates in the rest of the season and contributing to achieving the goal with his games, is winning the new title of Croatian champion."

Croatian journalist Izak Ante Sukic added: "Mislav Orsic stays in GNK Dinamo. Although everything seems to be going in direction that he'll eventually become new Burnley player, he decided to stay!

"Sad day for Burnley fans..."

The transfer had been dragging on, with the Clarets discussing a fee for the 29-year-old, which was believed to be in the region of what Dinamo wanted for the player - around £7m.

And the Croatia international was also thought to be happy with the terms on offer at Turf Moor, and also unconcerned by the prospect of relegation.

However, the sticking point appeared to have been Dinamo wanting the fee paid in full immediately, rather than in instalments, and there have been subsequent stories in Zagreb of Dinamo rejecting an offer of €10m - around £8.3m - and wanting him to play on Sunday in their top of the table clash with Rijeka.

There were also banners outside what is believed to be Orsic's home saying ‘Orsa ostani’ - ‘Stay Orsa (his nickname), quoting the track 'Noć je prekrasna’ by Daleka Obala, which basically means 'don’t go away from us; the darkness is all around'.

And on Thursday night, journalist Ižak Ante Sučić of germanijak.hr (@IASucic) tweeted a photograph of Dinamo Zagreb fans, the 'Bad Blue Boys' in the streets of Zagreb with banners and flares, again begging Orsic to stay.

There were unconfirmed reports that he said his goodbyes to his team mates and staff on Thursday morning, but with Dinamo seemingly dragging their feet, Pace made the trip to Zagreb to try and smooth things over, with Monday's 11 p.m. transfer deadline looming.

However, his efforts appear to have been in vain.