Arsenal’s attempts to sign Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan or fellow winger Yannick Carrasco of Dalian Yifang look to be over.
However the Gunners are still working on a deal for Paris St-Germain midfielder Christopher Nkunku.
At the start of the transfer window, Arsenal made an approach to take Belgium forward Carrasco, 25, on loan.
The loan fee they proposed was deemed too low but there was optimism an agreement could be reached.
The idea of joining Arsenal appealed to Carrasco – partly because returning to Europe would have suited his family and the Belgium national team – and he was willing to accept a salary reduction.
As Arsenal considered their next move, there was internal upheaval within the club as it was announced head of recruitment Sven Mislintat would leave on 8 February.
Arsenal subsequently decided to focus their search for a wide player on Perisic, offering to take the Croatia winger on loan with an option to buy him at the end of the season.
Perisic, 29, handed in a transfer request but Inter insisted he could only leave permanently or on loan with an obligation to buy.
Arsenal informed their potential recruits that they are not in a financial position to make permanent signings this month or commit now to doing so in the summer.
They are set to have a higher budget in the next transfer window but cannot guarantee to potential signings whether they will play in the Champions League or Europa League in 2019-20.
That uncertainty ended any realistic hope Arsenal had of recruiting Perisic, so the pursuit of Carrasco on loan was reignited.
However, their offer to Dalian Yifang for the former Monaco and Atletico Madrid player had not changed and was still considered unacceptable.
There has been no indication Arsenal will resurrect those moves.
They are still trying to sign 21-year-old Nkunku on loan with an option to buy, the same basis on which they have completed the acquisition of another midfielder, Denis Suarez from Barcelona.