Atletico Madrid's plans for the summer have been dealt a major blow just weeks after their season came to an end.

Diego Simeone now knows he will be unable to sign any new players in the upcoming transfer window.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has upheld a ban, following an appeal, preventing Los Rojiblancos from registering new players for two transfer windows for breaching Fifa rules over the signing of minors.

Having already served one window without signing anyone, the next time Atletico can bring a new player in is January 1, 2018.

It is particularly frustrating as Madrid will start next season in a new home - the Wanda Metropolitano stadium - but will not have any fresh faces to star in it.

It is also a fairly bitter pill for Alexandre Lacazette to swallow as he was all set to join the club after agreeing personal terms.

Last month it was revealed the Lyon forward would be moving on in the summer seven years after breaking through the ranks at the Parc OL and he admitted Atletico were among the teams interested in signing him.

"I want to wait until the end of the season to discuss things with my agent and make the right choice for my future," Lacazette said, as per The Mirror.

"You need to have some proposals on the table in order to make a choice, so I prefer to wait until the end of the season.

"Atletico Madrid are one of the clubs that have been linked in the press. They have a great coach, nice fans, a project and they obviously have Antoine Griezmann."

So with news of the ban being upheld, the 26-year-old is now back to square one, or maybe not...

Atletico's ban could prove very good news for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.

Wenger has been a long-term admirer of Lacazette and even had a bid rejected for him last summer.

With Atletico now seemingly out of the picture, the Gunners could now jump in and steal the forward.

It's certainly a big boost for Arsenal's long-serving boss, however, Lacazette's signature remains far from a formality.

There will be plenty of other clubs also eyeing him up and there is also the small matter of Europa League football at the Emirates next term.

It is highly likely the French international will want to join a Champions League side so it may take all of Wenger's methods of persuasion to convince him to move to north London.

Nevertheless, you can almost guarantee the Arsenal boss will be on the phone to France very shortly...