Manager Gordon Strachan was ready to pay Tromso �2.5m for the 21-year-old, who has scored 20 goals in 26 matches this season.

Lange is an under-21 international and Coventry wanted him to provide extra competition for places in attack.

But Strachan admitted: "We have given up on the Lange deal. That was all about money and we're not going to break our wage structure, that's not what we're about here."

He was recently frustrated in his attempts to sign another Norwegian, Andreas Lund, when medicals tests revealed the Molde forward has undergone major surgery to repair knee ligaments.