Manchester United retaliate as Real play De Gea blame game
Manchester United hit back at Real Madrid last night after they pointed an accusatory finger at the Premier League side following the collapse of goalkeeper David de Gea’s £29m transfer due to the alleged late arrival of paperwork.
United said the club felt “compelled” to clarify the situation, and contested Real’s suggestion that the breakdown of the deal was due to their failure to upload documentation before the close of the Spanish transfer window.
They insisted all requisite documentation was returned and uploaded by 22:58, stressing the deal was unable to be finalised due to Real’s failure to submit De Gea’s details to Fifa’s Transfer Matching System and La Liga in time.
“The fact that Manchester United filed the paper on time was acknowledged by the Football Association, who offered to support that claim in any discussions with Fifa,” read United’s statement.
“The Club offered this assistance, as well as its own timestamped documents to Real Madrid but they have chosen not to go down this route. The Club is delighted that its fan-favourite double player of the year, David de Gea, remains a Manchester United player.”
Real had earlier claimed in a 10-point statement that United took eight hours to make minor modifications to the agreement, which would have seen £11m-rated Costa Rica stopper Keylor Navas move in the opposite direction.
The Spanish club insisted that United entered details of the De Gea deal, although not the Navas transfer, onto the TMS network at exactly midnight. They claim the full documentation was received two minutes later, by which stage the TMS was closed.