Chelsea are no longer pursuing a deal to bring Bayern Munich midfielder Marcel Sabitzer to the Premier League, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Blues make Sabitzer contact

The Austria international’s contract in the Bundesliga isn’t set to expire until 2025, but after falling out of favour at the Allianz Arena, he has been attracting interest from the English top flight.

Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg claimed earlier today that both the Blues and Manchester United have been in contact with the German champions regarding a last-minute move for the 28-year-old, but it now appears that Graham Potter’s side have removed themselves from the race.

The Latest: Romano’s update

Taking to Twitter, Romano revealed that Chelsea are focusing their attention elsewhere, with the Red Devils seemingly in pole position to land Sabitzer before tonight's transfer deadline.

The Italian wrote: “Marcel Sabitzer wants to leave and Manchester United are now pushing in talks with Bayern. Discussions on the formula of the deal, ongoing. Chelsea are currently busy with other deals and not with Sabitzer as things stand.”

The Verdict: Wrong decision

Sabitzer has been dubbed a ‘deadly’ player by journalist Josh Bunting, and when you look at his performance metrics, Chelsea's apparent decision to drop their interest in him was the wrong one.

The Austrian has recorded 184 goal contributions in 443 senior career appearances and currently ranks in the 99th percentile for shots per 90 minutes among positional peers in Europe's top five leagues, highlighting his desire to impact the game in the final third.

As the lowest scorers among the top 11 teams in the Premier League, Chelsea could certainly have done with a midfielder with such attacking intent and potency.

Sabitzer would have been the perfect alternative to fellow Blues transfer target Enzo Fernandez, whose deal continues to be a slow burner, but it seems clear that the Stamford Bridge hierarchy have other preferred targets in mind.