How Manchester United could have avoided the David De Gea transfer saga

The long, ever-lasting drama surrounding the future of star goalkeeper David de Gea never seems to have an ending scene. The 24-year-old Spaniard, heavily linked to Spanish giants Real Madrid throughout the summer transfer window, was on the verge of completing a ‘dream’ £29.3m move to the Santiago Bernabeu. Part of the deal also saw Costa Rica’s standout stopper Keylor Navas heading the other way.

But, right at the 11th hour, the transfer collapsed when Real Madrid apparently failed to submit the requisite paperwork to the Spanish football association before the Spanish transfer window deadline (2300 BST). There has now been official confirmation that David de Gea will stay at Man United at least until his contract runs out next summer.

Who is to blame?

Expectedly, the blame games begun between the 2 parties. A statement released by Real Madrid said that the club ‘had done everything’ to ensure that the £29.3m deal went through, but missed the Spanish Transfer Deadline by just 2 minutes (31st August, 2300 BST), stating Man United’s delay in submitting the requisite paperwork in time as the reason.

A contrary statement released by the 20 time Premier League winners claimed that they had submitted and uploaded all the required documentation onto the TMS (Transfer Matching System) around 2 minutes ‘before’ the deadline (2258 BST), but Real Madrid failed to do so. They also added that they were delighted that the two-time Manchester United player of the year would be staying at Old Trafford for at least another season.

Many pundits have lambasted the bizarre delay from Real Madrid to negotiate a deal with Manchester United for the star stopper. Los Blancos fans were ultimately left wondering what caused the Real Madrid board to take such an eternity to sign de Gea (62 days, 2 minutes). Were they waiting for his price to dip over the window? Were they reluctant to offload any of the players Man United were demanding in exchange for the Spanish keeper?

Here’s a closer look into the whole transfer story and we’re left wondering whether United could have avoided all this speculation had they been a little proactive regarding De Gea’s future at the club. We also take an insight into David de Gea’s development and career at Old Trafford, something which de Gea himself would definitely look back at great satisfaction when he hangs up his boots 15 years down the line.

How did it begin?

On 17th May, 2015 at Old Trafford when Manchester United hosted Arsenal David De Gea limped off the pitch in the 74th minute with an ankle injury he sustained while trying to deal with an Aaron Ramsey shot.

As he walked down the tunnel, the United faithful from the Stretford End chanting out “David de Gea, David de Gea” was very reflective of the speculation surrounding his uncertain future at the Premier League giants. Rumours had started surfacing since January 2015 that Real Madrid had come knocking on the door about a possible switch to the Santiago Bernabeu.

If one needed any justification about the veracity of those rumours, one wouldn’t have to look past those chants and the eerie atmosphere enveloping Old Trafford as the match ended prematurely for the Spaniard.

The fans should have been lifted by his Spanish replacement – a debut for Barcelona’s long-serving stopper and World Cup winner Victor Valdes. But the Spanish media can quite literally ‘make a transfer happen’ (as was the case with the Gareth Bale transfer story) and fans could be forgiven for thinking the worst; of having to part with possibly their best player over the past 30 months or so – someone who has repetitively kept them in games when their defending has looked in sixes and sevens.

How United could have dealt with the transfer

Through these periods of De Gea’s successful development, United fans would have been bewildered by the inability, or reluctance of David Gill and Ed Woodward to renew his contract when he had around 2 or 3 years left on it. Just take the example of Eden Hazard, who signed a 5.5 year contract with Chelsea to keep him at the club till the end of the 2019-20 season, thus ensuring that only an exorbitant transfer fee would be able to take him away from Stamford Bridge.

The United board may now be regretting their failure to handle the Spaniard’s contract the same way, leaving them having to deal with this embarrassing situation, the result being that they may not even earn a penny for his departure if he sees out the remaining year left on his contract. He has already rejected a new one, stating his interest in moving back to Spain with his family as the primary reason.

In fact, de Gea was staying at his girlfriend’s residence in Spain, waiting for the official confirmation of his move. He has reportedly shown dissatisfaction on learning that the deal has fallen through.

United have repeatedly resisted offers from Real Madrid, stating that they wanted a player from the other party as part of a swap deal. Now that Sergio Ramos has signed a new long-term contract with the Spanish giants, their focus shifted towards acquiring the services of Gareth Bale, who has become the media’s scapegoat following a ‘second-season-syndrome’ at Real Madrid. A last minute deal involving Goalkeeper Keylor Navas was ultimately accepted, but by then it was too late.

The board’s negligence in establishing a long-term future for de Gea has probably cost them one of their best players, one who could be hailed as the player responsible for bringing United back to the Champions League. Yes, Sergio Romero is a capable replacement, but can he scale the heights set by the Spaniard? Can Sam Johnstone be tipped as another De Gea in the making?

Whatever the outcome, David de Gea will forever be remembered in Old Trafford folklore as a club prodigy, and Man United as an institution can feel proud that they played an integral role in his development with just about the same pride that they take in the making of Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the World’s best.

For now, David de Gea’s immediate challenge will be to return to the same mindset as before following this bizarre incident involving his transfer. It will definitely be tough, considering that he was just a couple of minutes away from his ‘dream-move’, but all top players come across these situations in their careers. It probably is only a matter of a few weeks before Manchester United’s wall is back to what he does best: denying opponents goals.