"Foreign clubs must come into the real world. The Premier League is no longer a soft touch for them to make money," Shepherd complained to the Evening Chronicle.
"The Brazilians seem to think Europe is cash-laden and they can take advantage, but the silly days are gone. The bottom has fallen out of the transfer market.
"We made what I consider a great offer and it still stands. It is now up to them to get in touch with us if they want to do business.
"They may be saying we didn't offer enough, but we didn't go all the way out there with anything but good and determined intentions."
With the Atletico President claiming that Newcastle’s bid was a derisory attempt to profit from Brazilian football’s cash crisis, the deal now looks to be dead.