David De Gea: Man Utd deny blame for failed Real Madrid deal

De Gea situation is ludicrous - Kilbane

Manchester United say they were not at fault for the collapse of goalkeeper David De Gea's move to Real Madrid.

Real released a statement saying they did everything they could to complete the £29m deal of the 24-year-old, but missed the deadline by two minutes.

But United say they submitted all the paperwork two minutes before 23:00 BST.

The Red Devils added: "The club is delighted that its fan-favourite double player of the year, David De Gea, remains a Manchester United player."

De Gea, who is out of contract next year, has not played this season.

Real Madrid's story

Manchester United's story

United did not open any channel of negotiation over De Gea until Monday morning.

United did not seek contact from Real for the sale of De Gea. No offer was received until Monday.

Real sent United the contracts at 12:39. United replied eight hours later (20:43), including minor modifications, which Real accepted immediately.

United sent transfer documents for both players to Real at 20:42.

Real sent United the contracts at 22:32, before waiting to receive the final documents signed by United.

Real returned De Gea's documentation without the signatory page at 22:32. At 22:40, major changes came through which put the deals at risk.

United entered the details of the De Gea deal at 23:00, simultaneously sending Real Madrid the contracts. Real received this complete documentation at 23:02 and attempted to access the TMS (Fifa's Transfer Matching System), but it was closed.

Only at 22:55 were the documents needed to cancel De Gea's contract received from Real. At 22:58, the transfer agreement was sent back by United, uploaded onto TMS and accepted - all before the deadline.

All times have been converted to BST. The deadline was at 23:00 BST (midnight Spanish time).

Keylor Navas, 28 - who had been poised to move in the other direction - has been Real's number one since the club allowed Iker Casillas to join Porto.

De Gea joined United from Real's city rivals Atletico Madrid in 2011 in an £18.9m deal.

After several high-profile errors in his first few months in England, he established himself as one of the league's top keepers and made 175 United appearances in total.

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United are now set to continue with four keepers for the Premier League season - De Gea, Sergio Romero, who has started all their games so far, Victor Valdes, whom the club failed to sell to Besiktas, and Sam Johnstone.

In January De Gea, who will now go on international duty with Spain, will be able to open talks over a free transfer move to Real next summer.

Analysis from BBC Sport's Simon Stone:

"Even in this world of mega-money deals, some players are untouchable. As the dust settled on a hectic 48 hours at Old Trafford, a senior United source said the only thing that stopped their two-time player of the year David De Gea being in that category was the length of his contract.

"Though no guarantees have been offered, it is anticipated De Gea will eventually be restored to his former status as Van Gaal's number one keeper. It is felt if any discontent has been created by Van Gaal's refusal to pick the player so far this season, it is superficial and the relationship will soon be restored.

"Around Old Trafford there is also quiet satisfaction that Real Madrid have not got their man - as they did with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 - although the club deny completely that they deliberately held the transfer up."

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