When Florentino Perez wants a player, he usually gets him. Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea is someone he wants.
Real Madrid’s president wanted him in 2015, only for the transfer to break down on deadline day.
Manchester United, who had lined up Keylor Navas to replace him, suspected that Madrid did not want to push the transfer through as much as they had told the goalkeeper. Madrid blamed a broken fax machine for the deal falling through in the last hours of the summer transfer window that year.
Navas is a very good goalkeeper, but he has not been as spectacular this season.
Madrid have been top of the table for much of it and will go top again if they pick up at least a point from their game in hand over Barcelona, but they have conceded 39 goals in 34 league matches.
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Read more
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■ Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid: Familiar stage, different actors
■ Andy Mitten: Another Man United stalemate puts top-four bid at risk
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Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao have all conceded fewer goals than Zinedine Zidane’s side. Sevilla have conceded fewer goals at home than Madrid.
Goal difference will not count for much, or be remembered, if Madrid win their remaining four Primera Liga matches and claim a first title since 2012, and nobody will even talk of it if they become the first team in the Uefa Champions League era to retain the trophy.
But that is one reason why it’s understood that Perez wants De Gea, the Madrid born goalkeeper of the Spanish national team, because it may matter in future seasons.
United want their goalkeeper, who has a contract until 2019, to stay. He is one of the best in the world and while he has had moments where he has looked distracted in recent weeks, he has enjoyed another solid season.
David De Gea during his first season at Manchester United in 2011. Ian Kington / AFP
The former Atletico goalkeeper is unlikely to win the club’s player of the year award for a fourth successive season, but he was the only United player in the Premier League’s Best XI as voted for by fellow professionals.
De Gea will say nothing about his future. Apart from a tough first six months after he had joined the English side in 2011, he has served United exceptionally well in his six years in Manchester, but while he joined a side which won titles, he now plays in one which has finished between fourth and seventh in each of the last three seasons and is set to be outside the top four again this year.
United are wise to what is going on. De Gea has a contract, but it is hard to keep a player at a club if he wants to leave.
De Gea’s reasons for leaving are obvious — a better team in his home city, a fine city where his family, friends and partner all live.
United can also play hardball. They showed last time that they’re not afraid of putting De Gea in the stands, they have absolutely no pressure to sell and could easily afford to pay De Gea more than Real Madrid will. Money may be important in football, but it is not everything.
United also have some advantages. Former Madrid manager Jose Mourinho knows most of his old club’s players better than most. They could be used as a bargaining tool, especially as he has a much clearer understanding of what he wants after a season in charge at Old Trafford.
Madrid have young players like Raphael Varane who Mourinho rates very highly. Madrid do not want their best talents to leave, but then nor do United.
Out of respect to De Gea, Madrid also do not want a repeat of the deadline day fiasco of last time.
Jose Mourinho is a fan of Raphael Varane, left, and could use the French defender as a bargaining tool in any deal for David De Gea. Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP
De Gea’s agent Jorge Mendes will once again be key to any movement, but United have not been shy in looking at alternatives to De Gea either and, based on his past record, Mourinho is not a bad judge of a goalkeeper either.
It is a shame that United could lose a player of De Gea’s quality and the club have treated him well, not that he talks about it much, for he does almost no insightful media, yet there is a consensus among players that Alex Ferguson was hugely important to De Gea.
“After one game, we saw the manager say to him in the dressing room: ‘You know I should take you out of the team, but I won’t do that because I want you to play under pressure,” former United defender Patrice Evra told this writer.
“You’re a good goalkeeper and I will keep you in this team. I want you to show to everyone how good a goalkeeper you are. I will not give up on you.”
United never gave up on De Gea, something he should remember when thinking that the grass is greener back home.
Las Palmas’ end-of-season slump no surprise
Las Palmas manager Quique Setien. Javier Soriano / AFP
Too many Primera Liga sides have seen their form slump in the last month, especially those who feel like they have little to play for in the league.
Since respected Las Palmas manager Quique Setien announced that he was leaving at the end of the season, the Canary islanders’ results have slumped.
The club and Setien were unable to agree on a new contract, with the manager expecting to double his wage.
Las Palmas will not be held hostage. They have an excellent youth system, their reserve team are league champions and they want to continue developing their own players.
Setien is striking while the iron is hot. He is set to move to Valencia and his Las Palmas side have lost five and drawn one of their last seven games, conceding three or more in all five defeats.
Relations between the players and the manager are not good. Down to 14th place, Las Palmas were hammered 5-0 at home to Atletico at the weekend and lost 3-0 at Leganes last week.
The one team Las Palmas did beat was Real Betis, 5-1. Betis are not adverse to finishing the season badly — it is almost part of their DNA — and they have been relegated with poor end of season form before.
That is not going to happen this season because Osasuna and Granada have been so poor, while third from bottom Sporting Gijon are six points from safety with three games remaining.
The bottom three have won only three, four and five games respectively from their campaigns so far.
Betis are 15th. They lost 4-1 at home to an Alaves side resting players ahead of their first ever Copa del Rey final later this month.
Alaves have done well to be safe and their reserve team did even better to win at Betis, but with so little incentive to improve league positions once a team is safe, you start to get inconsistent results.
Betis have also lost five of their last seven games, though they did beat Celta Vigo last week, another team distracted by their involvement in the Europa League where they play Manchester United on Thursday.
Celta have also lost five of their last seven league games and given up any hope of a European qualification which they had threatened earlier in the season.
It is understandable that they rested so many of their players for the weekend home game against Athletic Bilbao, which they lost 3-0.
Fans are far more likely to remember them winning the Europa League than being too concerned about where they finish in mid-table.
The last team Celta beat before their wretched league run? Las Palmas. Even in the race to the bottom, there is usually a loser.
Player of the week: Dani Carvajal
Is seldom mentioned among Real Madrid’s stars, but the versatile home-grown full back has been excellent this season. Full of energy, he was a driving force as Real Madrid got an 85th minute winner from another exceptional defender, Marcelo. The 2-1 win against Valencia keeps their title challenge on target.
Game of the week: Barcelona v Villarreal, Saturday, 8.30pm UAE time
Second v fifth, with Villarreal still in with a slight chance of a Uefa Champions League spot. Real Madrid should win easily at Granada. Fourth place Sevilla are at home to seventh-placed Real Sociedad. Leganes can give their survival hopes a massive boost at home to Betis who are falling apart.
What else?
• Levante returned to the Primera Liga at the first attempt, confirming their promotion with a 1-0 home win against promotion chasing Real Oviedo. Levante are unbeaten at home all season and confirmed promotion with six games to spare.
• Second-place Girona have got over their wobble and had an impressive 2-1 win at Lugo to remain seven points clear with six games to play in the automatic promotion spot.
• Elsewhere in Catalunya, Reus won the Catalan second division derby at Nastic Tarragona with a 90th minute goal.
• Lower down in the second division, once great Mallorca are 23rd and set to play regional third division football next season.
• Elche, Rayo Vallecano, Almeria and Cordoba, who have also played top-flight football recently, are also in danger of going down.
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