As far as the situation stands at this moment in time, David De Gea will remain a Man United player this season. Fans going to bed last night did so in the knowledge that the De Gea situation was over. He was off to Real Madrid and in return United were getting a decent chunk of cash and Keylor Navas in return.
All in all, it looked a good deal for everyone involved. That's before the damn fax machine got in the way. Real Madrid have accused Man United of failing to submit the necessary paperwork before the Spanish transfer deadline closed at 12 o'clock Spanish time.
United, for their part, are having none of that. They are claiming they have a receipt for the paperwork, with a 'FIFA timestamp' (what a ridiculous phrase) that proves they did everything above board.
Reports in England have suggested that things went through just one minute after the deadline closed, while Spanish newspaper AS is saying that it was a much more sluggish 28 minutes after the cut-off.
Despite the claims about late paperwork, the Spanish LFP (the league organisation) have offered a different explanation saying that United filled the paperwork in a format that could not be opened.
Despite what regularly happens in England, there is no precedent in Spain for late deals being given special compensation to go through after the deadline. However, both deals are still keen on the deal and it is thought FIFA will be petitioned today to ensure that De Gea and Navas could still swap clubs.
