Manchester United's transfer deal with Real Madrid for goalkeeper David de Gea is not quite done, and may not be, as Tuesday morning left the football world with more questions than answers as to De Gea's future.
The continental European transfer window shut at midnight in Spain (2am UAE) on Monday night, with a deal by all accounts agreed and processed. That latter bit – the processing – however apparently hit a snag.
Read more: The National's Transfer Talk page
The documents to finalise the transfer were either not prepared in time, not delivered in time or simply were not received in time by the Spanish football governing body, which appeared to reject the move on grounds that the deadline had been missed. Spanish daily Marca claimed early Tuesday morning it was collapsed entirely, running the headline: "De Gea's move to Real off!"
However, subsequent reports in the Spanish media claimed Madrid will attempt to argue to Fifa that all the documentation was in place before the deadline.
England's Independent cited United club sources saying they had filed the transfer in time, and were "relaxed" in preparing to leave it to Fifa to determine the outcome.
As Monday night drew to an end it seemed all but certain De Gea would be a Real Madrid player come Tuesday morning, with Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas and €30 million (Dh124m) going Manchester United’s way as compensation. It was to be the finale to a weeks-long saga that has seen United manager Louis van Gaal keep Spain keeper De Gea – who had wanted to return to his home country – out of the squad because of converns that Madrid’s interest was shaking his focus.
Instead, the world will wait still longer through Tuesday on Fifa, United, Madrid or De Gea himself to provide clarity.
Summing things up Monday night, the noted Spanish football writer Guillem Balague tweeted: "From Madrid: United did not send paperwork on time. From United: we did. The mystery continues."
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