After a dramatic evening on Monday which saw Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea have his hopes of a late move to Real Madrid dashed at the final moment, we are still trying to piece together exactly why the deal wasn’t concluded.
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De Gea, 24, has one-year left on his current United deal and will be able to sign a new contract with non-English teams in January ahead of a free transfer next summer. Many believe Real will now hold out until next summer to rubber-stamp DDG’s arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu, while others smell something a little fishy with this last minute collapse and believe maybe Real are getting their own back on United after Fabio Coentrao’s late move to United from Real collapsed two years ago. Who knows.
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Let’s take a look at what we do know and try to decipher whether or not this deal is capable of being salvaged in the coming hours, as Real Madrid have since released their version of events.
It’s best to break this down in a timeline of events, as a crazy evening unfolded with the Spanish transfer deadline occurring at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, 24 hours before the deadline in England.
- Real Madrid agree to pay $40 million for De Gea
- De Gea is in Madrid at his girlfriends house (currently on international duty with Spains), is said to have already ordered a new suit for his unveiling at Madrid on Tuesday
- Keylor Navas is said to be moving in the opposite direction, but is unhappy with certain parts of contract, forcing changes
- Contrary to initial reports, United file paperwork to FIFA via the digital TMS system (no paperwork here) on time
- Reports say Real Madrid received paperwork but format was incorrect, couldn’t complete in time
- Another reports say La Liga never received paperwork from Real asking to add De Gea to their squad
- An appeal to FIFA and UEFA from both clubs was likely, however La Liga unlikely to back Real as paperwork was not filed so the Spaniards appear to have given up, leaving both players in limbo
