Heart of Midlothian target Islam Chesnokov is still holding out for a move to Tynecastle despite the Kazakhstan international having an offer accepted for him from a club in Azerbaijan.
The Tynecastle club were in negotiations with the midfielder's club FC Tobol, but they accused the Scots of submitting an unacceptably low offer.
The club have now accepted an offer from Baku club Neftci PFK, but Chesnokov is still holding out for the summer to see if Hearts resurrect their interest.
He said: "I was close to leaving last month. And there was concrete interest from Hearts who made an offer.
"But the clubs have not reached an agreement and still haven't even now. I hope the clubs can agree in the future."
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The club's sports director, Sanzhar Seitkazinov, claimed that Hearts' offer was "unacceptable".
"Islam is a quality Kazakhstan footballer. Giving him away for free is wrong, because the club invested in his development.
"We asked Hearts to come back with another offer, if possible.
"The club's position is this - if we were really offered the £500,000 that has been reported, we would have taken him to Scotland ourselves!
"We are not asking for fabulous money."
