Real Madrid’s deal for Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea seems to have fallen through after the La Liga club failed to complete the paperwork in time before the Spanish transfer window deadline, according to The Guardian. The deadline for the transfer window in Spain was midnight on August 31 (11 PM BST) and Madrid were reportedly trying to convince the Spanish football officials to allow the deal to go through.
The Spanish goalkeeper was supposed to sign for the La Liga giants in a player plus cash deal worth £29.3m and Keylor Navas going in the other direction. But with the late paperwork, it looks like this deal may not happen as Spanish clubs have never received extra time to complete deals, unlike England where transfers may be sanctioned a few hours after the stipulated deadline provided there is a valid reason.
La Liga’s official site does not have De Gea’s name on the list of transfer deadline day deals. The report states that Navas wanted changes in the contract that caused a few delays in sending across the documents.
Real Madrid and Manchester United blame each other for late paperwork
The Madrid-based club immediately blamed the Red Devils for not sending the documents on time. The reason reportedly stated was that one of the documents were faxed too late for Madrid to complete the deal and get it approved by the Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP). The claim is that United sent in a key document by fax only at 11:59 PM – just a minute before the transfer deadline. Real were only able to send the document to LFP a minute after the Spanish transfer deadline.
In fact, according to AS, the documents were received by LFP only at 00:28 – almost half an hour after the deadline.
Transfer related documents are filed in FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) – a system that helps enforce FIFA regulations where transfers of players are concerned. It helps provide transparency and ensures deals go through without a hitch. Once the deal is agreed, an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) is given as confirmation.
Mark Goddard, the general manager of FIFA TMS, had once said: “[Clubs] have to provide compulsory data, upload mandatory documents and declare all payments involved in a transfer,” according to EPSN. “If all parties are organized, it takes between seven and 10 minutes.”
However, United have shifted blame back to Madrid and point out that the time-stamp on all faxes prove the documents were sent on time. In fact, the EPL club has blamed Madrid for leaving things to the last minute in a transfer saga that has been going on since the end of the 2014/15 season.
According to The Telegraph, Real Madrid will appeal to FIFA to allow the deal to go through, showing proof that the paperwork was done in time and was only delayed because La Liga did not get all the papers in time thanks to the volume of paperwork.
The report also states that De Gea was in Madrid at his girlfriend Edurne Garcia Almagro’s house, waiting for the move to go through. He was also told earlier that day about the deal involving Navas moving the other way. But he was later told that the deal had to be scrapped and the goalkeeper did not take it well.
De Gea price negotiated too late for deal to go through
According to the Guardian report, United were holding out for £33m but finally accepted the £29.3m plus Navas deal when they realized it was the best deal they could get from Madrid or risk losing De Gea for free next summer. If he had been sold for £33m, he would have been the most expensive goalkeeper in history, beating the £32.6m Serie A club Juventus paid Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001.
The fact that United were involved in many other transfers on deadline day may have also been a factor. The Red Devils are in talks to sign 19-year-old Monaco forward Anthony Martial for £36m, according to BBC. United also sent Adnan Januzaj on a season-long loan to Borussia Dortmund, while Mexican striker Javier Hernandez was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £7.3m.
With both Madrid and United delaying the deal and negotiations and waiting till the last day to finalize the transfer means that De Gea will stay at Old Trafford for the time being. Unless Real Madrid are successful in their appeal, the Spanish number one will have to pull up his socks and compete with Sergio Romero for a spot in the starting lineup.
