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David De Gea should be a Real Madrid player, but he isn't. Despite Manchester United, Real Madrid, Keylor Navas and De Gea all agreeing to their deal, everyone's staying put because Madrid didn't get their documents into the FIFA Transfer Matching System or La Liga in time.
Madrid say this is entirely United's fault. Between the deal being agreed and United sending the necessary documents to Madrid, eight hours passed. It's possible that United were screwing around and/or playing games, but it's more likely that it took them quite a while to convince Navas to join up. United say they submitted their end of the documents to the TMS before the deadline, but they didn't give Madrid enough time to complete their end.
And now, everyone's screwed. Madrid don't get their Galactico and have to start a goalkeeper that they tried to get rid of. United are going to lose one of their best players for free. Ed Woodward and Florentino Perez are not good at their jobs.
A brief list of big done deals
- Papy Djilobodji from Nantes to Chelsea
- Julian Draxler from Schalke to Wolfsburg
- Javier Hernandez from Manchester United to Bayer Leverkusen
- Ramiro Funes Mori from River Plate to Everton
- Jakub Blaszczykowski from Borussia Dortmund to Fiorentina
- Adem Ljajic from Roma to Inter Milan on loan with an option to buy
- Adnan Januzaj from Manchester United to Borussia Dortmund on loan
- Hernanes from Inter Milan to Juventus
In the news
Everton's Darron Gibson has admitted hitting a cyclist while drinking and driving. (BBC)
Former Rangers CEO Charles Green, who has been accused of fraud, is being questioned by police. (Guardian)
Wayne Rooney doesn't know who Anthony Martial is. (ESPN FC)
NYCFC have released their most comically bad player. (MLS)
Dortmund have proposed closing the transfer window on August 1. YES. (AS)
Kevin Strootman's knee surgery was a success, but then again, so was the last one. (Football Italia)
You should be reading
Phil Costa on what Man United are getting with Anthony Martial. (The Set Pieces)
Sid Lowe on Eibar, who are at the top of La Liga despite getting relegated last year. (Guardian)
Andi Thomas and Alex Netherton with their Premier League diary, mostly on Brendan Rodgers. (Soccer Gods)
Fun with transfer rumors
It's the last day of this section for a few months, aren't you excited?!?
Spurs aren't giving up on Saido Berahino. (Cartilage Free Captain)
Chelsea might add another center back. (Telegraph)
Arsenal are scoffing at every decent player's asking price. (Telegraph)
Abdoulaye Doucoure looks close to signing for Watford. (Star)
West Brom are trying to sign David Lopez from Napoli. (Mail)