Manchester United have claimed their innocence in the David De Gea transfer sage involving La Liga giants Real Madrid, according to an official statement by the club.

The Spain international had been linked with a move to the Bernabeu all summer and looked to be heading to the Spanish giants yesterday before a deal reportedly collapsed because the relevant documents had not been sent through before Spain's deadline at 12pm on Monday night.

Real Madrid accused the Old Trafford outfit of not sending their documents over quick enough in a statement earlier, and blamed them for the way the transfer - which reportedly included Keylor Navas coming the other way - fell through after the deadline had passed.

But Man United released a statement this evening that claims that, despite them desperately wanting to keep hold of their goalkeeper, they had cooperated with Real Madrid as soon as they received their first official bid yesterday,

The statement read: "At lunchtime yesterday, Real Madrid made its first offer to buy David.

"A deal was agreed between the clubs, which included Navas being transferred to Old Trafford. The deals were dependent on each other.

"At 22:40 BST, minutes before the deadline, major changes to the documentation came through to Manchester United which immediately put the deals at risk.

"Only at 2255 BST were the documents that are needed to cancel David’s contract received by Manchester United from Real Madrid.

"It is our understanding that the deals couldn’t happen because Real Madrid didn’t upload David’s documents onto TMS in time (Manchester United did), Real Madrid didn’t upload David’s documents to the Spanish league in time.

"The fact that Manchester United filed the papers on time was acknowledged by the Football Association, who offered to support that claim in any discussions with FIFA.

"Manchester United acts appropriately and efficiently in its transfer dealings."

So, there you have it. Who is actually to blame in this one?

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