Real Madrid Transfer News: David De Gea, United Discussed by Florentino Perez

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has weighed into the ongoing blame game between his club and Manchester United regarding David De Gea’s proposed transfer between the two sides, putting the deal’s eventual collapse down to the inexperience of the Red Devils executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Both teams have issued statements looking to clarify who was responsible for the acquisition failing to go through on the final day of the Spanish transfer window. Speaking with radio station Cadena Ser (h/t Pete Jenson of the MailOnline) Perez insisted that Real were blameless in the affair, while United have previous:

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I think what they lack is experience. It happened last year with [Fabio] Coentrao, exactly the same. And it happened with Ander Herrera and Athletic Bilbao. They have a new team and they lack experience.

We have missed out on players before, Franck Ribery and Patrick Vieira for example, but what is surprising is that someone wants to do a deal and only starts the process 12 hours before. It’s the inexperience of the new people in charge. We have worked with them before [without problems], with Peter Kenyon and David Gil and with Sir Alex Ferguson.

We still have good relationship with Manchester United but this is the exactly the same as happened before with Coentrao and Herrera and we thought they would have learned from what happened in the past.

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However, a Manchester United spokesman has fired back disputing it was their fault, per Mark Ogden of the Telegraph: 

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The facts speak for themselves. The FA are prepared to back our case that documents were in on time.

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.

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The two clubs have conducted plenty of transfer dealings in the past, the most recent being the British record purchase of Angel Di Maria, with the midfielder joining United from Los Blancos for £59.7 million. But the De Gea transfer and the manner in which both parties have denied responsibility is likely to leave a bitter taste going forward.

Woodward has been far from convincing in his role at United so far either. As noted by Duncan Castles of ONE World Sports, he has already forged a reputation as a last-minute merchant, which is not a trait that would have helped the Red Devils in the case of De Gea or drafting in incoming players:

Indeed, in his first summer in charge, Woodward oversaw a £27.5 million deadline-day deal for Marouane Fellaini, the summer after they waited just as long to bring in Radamel Falcao on a lucrative loan switch and in this window they made Anthony Martial the most expensive teenager in football history in a £58 million deal.

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As Daniel Storey of Football365 notes, the Red Devils’ transfer strategy when it comes to the 19-year-old certainly should be questioned:

That the two clubs still preserve a strong relationship, as noted by Perez, is something that’ll act as encouragement to United fans, especially as the club continue to be linked with a move for Los Blancos winger Gareth Bale.

Reports had previously suggesting the manner in which the De Gea deal has been handled will prevent the two clubs ever doing business for the Welshman, per the Daily Star (h/t Aaron Flanagan of the Daily Mirror).

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However, as noted by BBC’s John Bennett, the De Gea debacle is not an affair that is likely to make things any easier:

Just who is to blame for this tiresome saga eventually failing to come to fruition is anyone’s guess. Both clubs have had their say and provided their own cases, yet it’s still unclear where the responsibility truly lies. But, what shouldn’t be lost is the fact that both parties had an entire summer to complete a deal and it came down to the final seconds of the window.

Woodward may still be a little naive in his role at United and the club do need to refine what looks to be a scattergun transfer policy. But as noted by Sky Sports, the Red Devils named their price for their prized asset this summer and Real Madrid decided not to meet the valuation until hours before the cutoff. Subsequently, there is undeniable accountability on both sides.