Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has hinted that he has cooled his interest in signing goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Rodgers has been looking at the possibility of a deal for the 32-year-old, who can sign for a club as a free agent outside the transfer window after leaving Barcelona in the summer.
Any move by the Reds would depend on Valdes proving his fitness after tearing his anterior cruciate knee ligament in March.
But asked by Spanish newspaper AS whether a Spanish player would be coming to Liverpool in the next few months, Rodgers said: "No."
Although the manager remains an admirer of Valdes, that answer suggests the keeper will not be joining at any time soon.
The Reds' interest in the player, three times a Champions League winner with Barcelona, first became public at the beginning of September.
However, even though his free agent status would allow him to sign for a team before January there would have been complications with any Liverpool deal.
Valdes was not registered in the Reds' squad for either the Premier League or the Champions League at the beginning of September and, under normal circumstances, neither list can be amended before January.
The Premier League told ESPN FC at the time that a club could apply to make an amendment between transfer windows if they signed a free agent, but that each case would be considered on its merits with permission not granted automatically.
UEFA, meanwhile, said it would not allow such an addition, effectively preventing Valdes from playing in European competition for anyone until the New Year.
Recent reports suggested that Valdes had turned down an approach from Liverpool because they wanted him to have a four-day trial in order to prove his fitness.
Gines Carvajal, Valdes' agent, subsequently denied the story, insisting there had been no offer of a trial.