Manchester United had agreed a £29million fee with Real yesterday for the Spanish international goalkeeper however the deal collapsed because the required paperwork was not submitted in time.
The transfer deadline in La Liga was at 23:00 last night and reports in Spain say the Red Devils were responsible for the paperwork arriving at the Spanish Football Federation headquarters one minute late.
Sources close to United say they have a receipt that proves they submitted the relevant documents before the deadline.
In the Premier League, the Football Association can grant teams extra time to conclude transfers after the deadline but there is no such precedent for Spanish clubs.
It remains to be seen whether Real will attempt to push the transfer through by appealing to world governing body FIFA, who are responsible for sanctioning international transfers.
De Dea, who only has a year left on his United contract, has been left “distraught” by the deal falling through.
Earlier this season, United’s manager, Louis van Gaal claimed De Gea “did not want to play for the club” and the 24-year-old had become “distracted” by the rumors of him moving to the Spanish capital.
Van Gaal has stated he would not consider picking De Gea until the transfer window was closed. It remains to be seen if De Gea will come into contention for United’s next game against Liverpool on September 12th.
With this being one of the biggest potential transfers of the summer, football fans took to Twitter to give their hilarious take on the saga: