David de Gea’s protracted move to Real Madrid from Manchester United has collapsed at the 11th hour.
The deal looked set to take place before last night’s 11PM Spanish deadline, but the paperwork was not filed in time for the move to be complete.
Costa Rican international ‘keeper Keylor Navas was due to be used as a makeweight in a deal reported to be worth around £29million. However, the deal did not happen and De Gea will remain a United player till at least January anyway.
De Gea had been linked with a move to the Spanish giants for much of the summer, but United insisted that the ‘keeper was not for sale unless the Red Devils received an extraordinary offer from Real Madrid.
De Gea has less than 12 months on his contract at Old Trafford and he will become a free agent next summer.
The highly-rated ‘keeper is expected to move back to his homeland net summer, with United receiving no compensation for the Spanish international.
Navas is believed to be happy in the Spanish capital and only learnt of United’s interest in him late yesterday.
A player that is expected to arrive at United on deadline day is Monaco striker Anthony Martial, who is expected to arrive from the French club for a fee in the region of £36million. The 19-year-old forward is highly-rated and scored nine Ligue One goals last season.
Martial helped Monaco to knock Arsenal out of last season’s Champions League and has passed a medical at Old Trafford. The versatile Frenchman is seen as a future world superstar.
Who was to blame for the De Gea’s deal collapsing?
