Sunderland refused to sign former loanee Yann M'Vila after Rubin Kazan demanded £8.5million for a player who will return to the Stadium of Light on a free transfer in January.
The 26-year-old is out on contract with the Russian club at the end of this year and has not been included in their squad for the league campaign.
M'Vila arrived in England on Wednesday in the hope of bringing forward his move having already signed a pre-contract agreement with the Black Cats.
But mega-rich Rubin asked for €10million to do the deal now and would not budge from that asking price.