The David De Gea soap opera: Manchester United's version
As the La Liga transfer window slammed shut Monday, Manchester United was left with David De Gea, Real Madrid with Keylor Navas, and football supporters the world over wondering why the transfer ultimately collapsed.
Not unlike two feuding actors in a soap opera, both Real Madrid and Manchester United tried to save face by releasing statements placing the culpability on the other side.
Florentino Perez's Madrid was first, establishing liability with the Mancunians, saying they approached Los Blancos too late for a deal to be hashed out.
Related: Real Madrid pins blame on Manchester United for botching David De Gea transfer
According to the statement from Real Madrid, United's tardiness prevented it from submitting the necessary information to the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) prior to the midnight deadline.
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.
A formal statement released on Manchester United's official website Tuesday afternoon claims the situation played out differently.
In the last several hours of the process, with Navas at the Real Madrid training ground, Real Madrid were controlling the documentation processes of David, Navas, and Real Madrid. Manchester United was in control only of the documentation of Manchester United.
According to United, the blame lies with officials from Real Madrid, as the necessary documentation was faxed to the Spaniards with 140 minutes to spare.
United also said it did not seek contact with Real for the sale of De Gea, rather it was Madrid which initially expressed an interest in the world-class shot-stopper.
Whether this is an attempt to save face and not burn what few bridges still stand between the Spanish international and Louis van Gaal's side, or is an actual account of events preceding the failed transaction, United's version greatly differs from Real Madrid's.
"The fact that Manchester United filed the papers on time was acknowledged by the Football Association, who offered to support that claim in any discussions with FIFA," Manchester United said in its statement. "The club offered this assistance, as well as its own time-stamped documents to Real Madrid but they have chosen not to go down this route."
Regardless of the end result, United stated that the outcome is the one it wanted all along.
"The club is delighted that its fan-favourite double Player of the Year, David De Gea, remains a Manchester United player," the club said.