Real Madrid pins blame on Manchester United for botching David De Gea transfer

Real Madrid doesn't back down from anyone. Not even Manchester United.

Following the surreal events of Monday evening, which saw the seemingly inevitable transfer of goalkeeper David De Gea fall through after the necessary paperwork wasn't filed in time, the Spanish club released a statement on Tuesday detailing why, in its mind, the fault lies with the Red Devils.

Related: Report - Swap deal involving De Gea, Navas falls through after paperwork not filed in time

It was widely reported that the two clubs had reached a £29.3-million agreement for the goalkeeper on Monday, in a deal that would also see Keylor Navas head to Old Trafford.

But when the transfer wasn't announced prior to the midnight deadline, the finger pointing began. Some blamed Manchester United, while others pointed the finger in the direction of the Spanish capital. Then there were those who chastised both clubs for waiting so long in the first place.

Related: The mysterious paperwork - A timeline of the David De Gea transfer fiasco

Who was really at fault, though?

If you ask Real Madrid, that's an easy question to answer. The club released a 10-point statement on Tuesday, outlining the wild events of Monday evening, claiming that the English club made a mess of the situation and noting - in conclusion - that the Spaniards "did everything that was necessary at all times to get these two transfers completed."

Related: The David De Gea soap opera - Manchester United's version

"Manchester United didn't open any negotiations for federation rights over David De Gea until yesterday morning," the statement began, before getting into a detailed timeline of the events.

Real Madrid and Manchester United reached a quick agreement over the transfers of both players. After drafting the corresponding contractual documents with the goal of proceeding within the time frame of both the TMS of FIFA as well as La Liga, Real Madrid sent the contracts to Manchester United at 13:39 Spanish time.

Manchester United replies with its comments eight hours later at 21:43 Spanish time, including small modifications. Because they were not major, all were immediately accepted by Real Madrid with the intention to register the player in both TMS and the Liga in time.

Madrid then claims that, after obtaining the signatures of both players, the documents were sent back to Manchester United, who needed only to get a signature from Navas and enter the necessary information into FIFA's Transfer Matching System (TMS).

Manchester United put the data regarding the David De Gea transfer into the TMS but not that of Keylor Navas at 00:00 Spanish time, while remitting to Real Madrid the signed transfer contracts at the same time. Real Madrid received that complete documentation at 00:02 and tried to access TMS but it was already shut down.

It wasn't until 26 minutes after the deadline, Madrid claims, that the TMS system opened again. While the club did submit the necessary paperwork to La Liga, it acknowledged doing so in vain, well aware that the deadline had come and gone.

There was no word on a potential appeal, though, as pointed out by Sid Lowe of the Guardian, Los Blancos seem resigned to the fact that the 24-year-old shot-stopper will remain with the Red Devils until his contract expires at the end of the season.