After all the fuss throughout the summer, David De Gea will be staying put with Manchester United for one more year.
Real Madrid have been very vocal in their pursuit of the Spanish goalkeeper, but they refused to match United’s valuation of the player, until last night.
With mere hours left on the clock, Real acted swiftly in accepting the demands of United, which featured upfront cash payment as well as Keylor Navas going in the opposite direction.
So Real Madrid will not appeal so DDG will stay at Manchester United and Navas at Real Madrid. Two unhappy goalies then
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) September 1, 2015
Both players agreed to the deal, and it was all set to be completed, before the move dramatically collapsed due to a delay in submitting the paperwork.
Neither side has accepted responsibility for the mess, with Real now publicly admitting defeat in their pursuit of De Gea, before blaming the Red Devils for everything that transpired last night.
Their full statement is available below:
“After the events of yesterday [Monday] in relation to the alleged hiring of David de Gea player, Real Madrid wishes to state:
“1. Manchester United didn’t open any path of negotiation for the registration rights to David De Gea until yesterday morning.
“2. Real Madrid, despite the difficulties associated with completing a deal of this type on the final day of registration, accepted the initiating of these conversations.
“3. When Manchester United entered into these negotiations yesterday morning they did so subject to being able to reach an agreement with Real Madrid player Keylor Navas, in order that he would join the British club from this season, and informed that they were in contact with the representatives of said player.
“4. Real Madrid and Manchester United reach a rapid agreement on the transfer of both players. After the drafting of the relevant contractual documents required and in order to proceed with sufficient time to process both the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) entry time and LFP regristration, Real Madrid forwarded the contracts to Manchester United at 13:39 Spanish time.
“5. Manchester United sent its comments on the contracts eight hours later, at 21:43 Spanish time, including minor modifications. Not being relevant, all changes were accepted immediately by Real Madrid, with the intention to register the players with both TMS and the LFP.
“6. After the signatures of the players De Gea and Keylor Navas, Real Madrid sent the English club said contracts signed at 23:32 Spanish time. We then awaited the receipt of the final documents signed by Manchester United .
“7. Manchester United reached a final agreement with the representatives of Keylor Navas at 23:53 Spanish time and it was at that time when the contracts were sent to the player to be signed.
“8. Manchester United entered the TMS data from the operation of David de Gea, not those of Keylor Navas, at 00:00 Spanish time, simultaneously referring to the signed Real Madrid contracts. Real Madrid received the full documentation at 00:02 and tried to access the TMS but it was already closed.
“9. At 00:26 Spanish time, the computer system of Fifa TMS makes an invitation to Real Madrid to fill out the data for the player David de Gea, given that the deadline for registration in England remains open to this day [Tuesday]. Real Madrid decided to refer the contract to the LFP, knowing that the deadlines had expired.
“10. In short, Real Madrid has done everything necessary, and at all times, to implement these two transfers.”
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