Manchester United sources said tonight that they were “relaxed” about the possibility of David De Gea having to stay until January at least after the Spanish league refused to ratify his transfer to Real Madrid, claiming that the transfer was logged too late.
Manchester United sources said tonight that they were “relaxed” about the possibility of David De Gea having to stay until January at least after the Spanish league refused to ratify his transfer to Real Madrid, claiming that the transfer was logged too late.
There was controversy late last night when it emerged that De Gea’s £29m deal to Madrid, which includes the Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas coming to Old Trafford as an £11m component, was in doubt because of the late logging of the agreement on the Fifa transfer management system (TMS). The deadline for European clubs to register summer transfers was 11pm European time last night - 10pm in the United Kingdom. English clubs have until 6pm today to complete their transfer business.
United sources said that the club were confident that their paperwork was logged with the Fifa TMS before the 10pm deadline and that they have the supporting documentation to prove that. The refusal by the Spanish league - the Liga de Futbol Profesional – to register the transfer means that Madrid must now appeal today to Fifa to authorise De Gea’s move.
United sources said that if De Gea has to see out the final year of his contract then they would be “relaxed” at that outcome, even though he has not yet been selected by Louis Van Gaal so far this season. The club say there is no question that their highly-experienced club secretary John Alexander, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur, would have missed the deadline. As secretary, Alexander is responsible for the registering of players across all competitions.
United sources have also pointed out that after a summer of constant reports from Spain about De Gea’s future, and undoubted unauthorised contact with the player through intermediaries, Madrid only made an official offer for the goalkeeper at lunchtime yesterday. Having delayed their final move for De Gea to such an extent, Madrid will have to take their case to Fifa in hope that it will ratify the move.
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Governance officials from national federations, including the English Football Association are able to log on to the Fifa TMS system. The FA will be in a position to support United case’s that they logged the agreement in time for the deadline.
In domestic transfers between English clubs, the FA gives trading clubs an hour’s grace if they can log the heads of terms agreement in time for the deadline. No such arrangement is in place in international transfers. De Gea himself was understood to be unhappy with the latest turn of events but confident that an agreement could be reached for his transfer. United still have until 6pm today to register Navas, in the event of the De Gea deal being authorised by Fifa.
