FIFA have rejected Leicester's bid to complete the £22million signing of Adrien Silva outside of the transfer window.

The 2015-2016 Premier League champions sold midfielder Danny Drinkwater to Chelsea on deadline day for £35m after teeing up a deal for Silva.

But FIFA withheld the International Transfer Certificate for the Portugal international from Sporting Lisbon.

FIFA ruled against Leicester as the documentation was received 14 seconds after the deadline.

The situation left Silva, 28, training on his own at Leicester’s HQ, and he’s now unable to play for them until the transfer window reopens in January.

FIFA said in a statement: "We can confirm the following decision of the Single Judge of the Players' Status Committee: the petition made by The Football Association for permission to request the International Transfer Certificate for the player Adrien Silva and subsequently register the player for its affiliated club, Leicester City FC, is rejected."

Leicester expressed their disappointment at the result in a statement on Wednesday night.

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The club said: “We cannot hide our disappointment or that of the player at the short-term consequences of the decision.

“We maintain, and have made strong representations to FIFA’s Players’ Status Committee, that all parties involved in Adrien’s transfer fulfilled their obligations, consistent with FIFA regulations and within the required timeframe.

"The Club is reserving its position in relation to whether it will decide to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“The Club and its staff will continue to work with Adrien to hopefully minimise the impact that missing a substantial period of the season may have on the player, while continuing to prepare the squad for the games ahead.”