Very few Manchester United, or any, fans will have expected this news, but David de Gea’s switch to Real Madrid (5/1 with Coral to win the Champions League) has sensationally failed, as signed documents by all parties were reportedly submitted after the Monday 11pm (UK time) La Liga deadline!
Like a late school or university assessment, rules are rules and the Spaniard will now remain a Red Devil until at least the winter transfer window. It was apparently Man Utd (16/1 chances) that sent the contract of Navas in one minute too late, but La Liga officials now say it was the fault of the Spanish side.
FIFA reportedly looked into the matter, with Real and De Gea clearly unhappy with the unfortunate events. Los Blancos decided not to appeal the decision.
Sky Sports’ La Liga pundit Guillem Balague boldly claimed earlier on Monday that the De Gea deal, which was worth around £29m and included Keylor Navas moving in the other direction, was confirmed.
“Navas accepts. De Gea deal done!! €40m all-in. £29m. Manchester United happy – near record for player with 1 year left,” he Tweeted.
Navas accepts. De Gea deal done!! €40m all-in. £29m. Manchester United happy – near record for player with 1 year left
Balague then added on Sky Sports News: “The news is the documentation was not done on time. David de Gea was at his girlfriend’s house waiting, Keylor Navas was waiting, everything was signed and sent to Manchester but the stories coming out of the Spanish media are that Manchester United sent the paperwork back at 12.01pm Spanish time, so past the deadline [by one minute].
“The Bernabeu was full of people, but the documents signed by Real Madrid and Keylor Navas did not come back from Manchester United on time.
“The Spanish media are fuming and saying this is revenge for what happened with Sergio Ramos [not going to Man Utd].
“There is no precedent for a deal to be done past the deadline,” he added. “Fabio Coentrao was in the same situation a few years ago when he was going to potentially move to Manchester United.
“The documents did not arrive in time, Real Madrid asked for five minutes and the league said no, so there is no precedent for this to be overruled. I know in England if everything is agreed you can have an extension but that has never happened in Spain and is not expected to happen.”
Balague confirmed:
So Real Madrid will not appeal so DDG will stay at Manchester United and Navas at Real Madrid. Two unhappy goalies then
While former Atletico Madrid star De Gea will now travel back to Old Trafford, after international duty with Spain, Man Utd will still be able to sign players on transfer deadline day (Tuesday until 6pm).
In the past, the likes of David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Gabriel Heinze and Crsitiano Ronaldo have all joined Los Blancos from Old Trafford, while Angel Di Maria moved the other way last summer.
Louis van Gaal’s men have started the season in decent fashion, being undefeated up until their recent league loss to Swansea City. They are currently in fifth place in the Premier League table on seven points, and qualified for the Champions League group stage after thrashing Club Brugge 7-1 on aggregate in the play-offs.
