Embarassment for Real Madrid as De Gea move falls through

Real Madrid on Monday sensationally failed in their last-day bid to sign goalkeeper David de Gea from Manchester United, meaning that the transfer saga of the summer ended in a ridiculous failure.

Both of the clubs had agreed on a deal worth around 40 million euros, which included the transfer of Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas to Manchester and De Gea had even signed his new contract with the Spanish club.

However, Real Madrid's inability to get the contract to the offices of the Spanish Football League (LFP) before the transfer window in Spain closed at midnight local time, meant they were unable to register the player and the deal fell through.

The fault is entirely that of Real Madrid, given that the transfer window in the Barclay's Premier League in England does not close until 6pm local time on Tuesday, meaning Manchester United had plenty of time to process their side of the deal.

Real Madrid's failure to complete De Gea's move is a big surprise and has been called "ridiculous" in the Spanish press, however, it also creates problems for both the Spanish club and Manchester United.

Manchester United are now stuck with a player who has not played this season as a result of the long-running negotiations over his move, while Real Madrid have a goalkeeper (Navas) who knows he is viewed by the club merely as a coin in an exchange deal and who had already packed his bags to move to England.

It now remains to be seen whether the two clubs will attempt to close the deal in January or whether Manchester United will renew their efforts to try and persuade De Gea to sign a new contract. Endi