Manchester United have hit back in their war of words with Real Madrid, comparing the Spanish club’s handling of the David de Gea deal to a clumsy goalkeeper.
A heated statement has been released after Real president Florentino Perez branded United’s conduct in the deal as a “disgrace” and claimed their negotiating team “lacked experience”.
A £29.5m deal for De Gea to join Real sensationally broke down at the last minute after the relevant documentation was received by La Liga 28 minutes after the deadline on August 31.
United have repeatedly insisted they submitted all their paperwork by the midnight cut-off and that it is Real’s fault that the deal did not go through.
And they reiterated on Friday: “The facts speak for themselves and the FA are prepared to back our case that the documents were in on time.
“Real seem intent to move the focus away from their own clumsiness this summer. We all like to blame others but if you let one slip through your fingers into the back of the net, then ultimately the culpability is yours.”
United did not want to lose their player of the year but De Gea, who has only one season remaining on his Old Trafford contract, was intent on a move to the Spanish giants.
The 24-year-old Spaniard has missed United’s first six games of the season as a result of the saga but he is now in line to return after the international break.
Perez had earlier said about United’s supposed delay in submitting the documentation: “It was a disgrace.
“I do not want to blame anyone, but we do not understand why they took eight hours to check the contracts or that they didn’t open negotiations until 12 hours before the deadline.”
The Real president also said about United’s role in negotiations: “I think they didn’t have bad intentions. I think they just lacked experience.
“It already happened to us [two seasons ago] with Fabio Coentrao and also happened to Athletic Bilbao with Ander Herrera [the summer before the Spanish midfielder made the move when David Moyes was in charge].
“When this happens more than once and you see that all the operations that, according to the media, they have tried to do during the summer [which didn’t go through], one believes that this happened because it is a new team with no experience.” – Sky Sports.
