Youssouf Mulumbu’s transfer to Albion from Paris Saint Germain is off.

Talks broke down last night and the 22-year-old midfielder flew home to France without a move to The Hawthorns being completed.

Albion have not given up hope of the Mulumbu camp returning to the negotiating table before the closure of the transfer window on Monday.

But – as of last night – no fresh talks were planned and the deal looked to be all-but dead.

The Baggies agreed a transfer fee of around £250,000 with PSG on Thursday and Mulumbu flew to England for talks.

But sources at the Hawthorns have revealed that discussions had broken down, because of a technicality in the player’s proposed Albion contract.

The news will disappoint Tony Mowbray, who had hoped to add Mulumbu to a growing list of promising youngsters that already includes David Worrall, goalkeeper Luke Daniels and Graham Dorrans.

The Baggies boss admitted that he did not expect Mulumbu to make an instant impact on the first team and he was already looking for a more experienced midfielder.

The club are still in talks with Udinese over Nigerian midfielder Christian Obodo and, although the Serie A club have stated their reluctance to loan the 24-year-old, Albion still hope to change the Italians’ minds.