5 truly bizarre Transfer Deadline Day stories

#4 Dodgy fax machine sinks De Gea deal (2015)

David De Gea's move to Real Madrid was scuppered by a faulty fax machine

Since the advent of e-mail and high-speed internet in the late 1990s, fax machines seem to have been largely condemned to the past. Unfortunately, Real Madrid appeared to have forgotten all about that in the summer of 2015, resulting in what would’ve been a headline-worthy deadline day move for Manchester United keeper David De Gea going down the drain at the last second.

According to reports, the two clubs agreed a fee of £29m for De Gea, with Real keeper Keylor Navas heading to Old Trafford as his replacement. But despite the move seemingly settled – United boss Louis Van Gaal even dropped the Spaniard for the first two matches of the season with the transfer pending – things fell apart after Los Blancos failed to register the necessary paperwork to complete the deal with La Liga.

A dodgy fax machine at Real’s headquarters was apparently to blame for the issues – although the Spanish giants also accused the Red Devils of stalling the deal, as they stated that some documentation regarding the move didn’t arrive from Manchester in time.

In the end, De Gea – who was in Madrid with his girlfriend at the time – ended up staying with United, while Navas – who was all set to board a plane to Manchester for a medical – later admitted that he burst into tears when he found out that his move had fallen through.