Real Madrid chief talks about De Gea possibility and ‘fax misfortune’

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez says he has not spoken to David de Gea since the “fax misfortune” two years ago.

The Manchester United stopper has been heavily linked with a move to Real this summer, but Perez claims he is happy with Real’s goalkeepers and has played down the possibility of bringing the 26-year-old back to Madrid.

De Gea almost made the move to Real two summers ago, but the deal fell through when Madrid failed to receive the faxed contract from United in time for him to sign. Perez has revealed it was “two minutes late”, but they have not made an attempt to sign him since, despite having an option to sign him again last summer.

Perez, who will remain in situ as Real president until June 2021, told Onda Cero: “For the time being, we haven’t spoken to De Gea.

“The last time I spoke to him was when that [failed transfer] happened. Two years ago we had that fax misfortune. It [the contract] arrived two minutes late.

“Last year we had a possibility that we didn’t take, and now we have no agreement with Manchester United to sign him.

“The truth is that we have great goalkeepers. I love Keylor Navas and the truth is that, back in 2015, I didn’t know him as I do now.”

Earlier this month Manchester United reportedly told Real Madrid that they will not sell De Gea for less than £66million this summer.

It looked certain De Gea was set to leave after six years at Old Trafford and United were determined to get the best possible price they can for the Spain international, but the landscape has changed over the last two weeks.

 

De Gea is said to be keen on a return to Madrid, but the speculation has waned and Perez’s admission that he is happy with his options at the La Liga club look like meaning a move this summer is unlikely.

De Gea could still be used as a makeweight in any deal for Alvaro Morata or Cristiano Ronaldo with the Sunday Times recently claiming that United would discount De Gea’s fee by £43m if they were able to get Morata as part of the deal.