FIFA unlikely to step in as David de Gea's transfer to Real Madrid falls through

Manchester United fans were in for a shock on Monday, August 31, when the club surprisingly let as many as three senior team players leave the club throughout the day. While the departure of goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard didn't come as much of a surprise, Mexican striker Javier Hernandez was sold off to Bayer Leverkusen, despite the club being short on the attacking front.

Adnan Januzaj, who had scored in United's 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the club's second league game of the season, was, meanwhile, loaned out to German club Borussia Dortmund. The club was, however, in the process of completing the signing of 19-year old French forward Anthony Martial for a staggering fee of 36 million pounds.

Rumours doing the rounds on late Monday also suggested the possibility of Argentine defender Marcos Rojo being sold, and young forward James Wilson being loaned out from the club. Amidst the chaos, it emerged in the early hours of Tuesday that goalkeeper David de Gea's move to Real Madrid was unlikely to go ahead, after the transfer window closed at 11 pm, Spanish time, on Monday.

As reported by Sky Sports, La Liga sources revealed that the necessary documentation for the transfer had not been submitted in time, resulting in it being declared void by the league. While it is not yet clear as to which party is responsible for the development, sources at Manchester United told Sky that the club had a receipt to prove that the documents were submitted to Real in time.

In a bizarre turn of events, Spanish outlet Marca reported that the reason for the deal falling through was the format in which United submitted the documents. Real Madrid, they said, failed to open the document, which delayed its submission to the league before the transfer window closed until January. While the Spanish club is now expected to appeal to FIFA to let the transfer go ahead, the world governing body is unlikely to budge.

Three seasons back, the documents required for Fabio Coentrao's transfer from Real to United were submitted five minutes after the window closed, resulting in the move being scrapped. There is no earlier precedent where a Spanish club has been allowed additional time to register a player after the conclusion of the transfer window. In such a scenario, it remains unlikely that FIFA will make a decision that goes against the league's decision.

However, in the unlikely scenario where the deal is allowed to go through, United will have until 6 pm, local time, to wrap up the deal for Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas, with whom they had agreed a deal to replace De Gea, before the deal collapsed.