David De Gea will stay at Manchester United for at least six months despite coming close to signing for Spanish giants Real Madrid.

De Gea stays at Manchester United, Navas stays at Real Madrid

The Spanish goalkeeper was set to return to his home country by signing for Madrid, with United set to receive around £29million and Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the deal.

However, the paperwork was delivered to the Spanish Football League too late and Real Madrid decided not to appeal the decision with the Spanish League never previously allowing an extension for transfers.

Paperwork sent too late for De Gea transfer

It is believed that the paperwork was sent to the LFP twenty-eight minutes past the deadline, midnight at Central European Time, meaning the transfer cannot go through.

The official Champions League Twitter account tweeted that there is "confirmation that David De Gea will 100% remain a Manchester United player".

Meanwhile, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague said on Sky Sports News that "they [Real Madrid] are not going to appeal to the league. The case is over. David De Gea will stay at Manchester United."

De Gea was staying at the house of his girlfriend, the Spanish pop star Edurne, in Madrid waiting for the deal to be confirmed but will now know that he will be playing for Manchester United at least until the next transfer window in January.

The Spaniard has just one year left on his contract at United, but may have to sign a new deal to ensure he gets playing time at Old Trafford. With the European Championships coming up in 2016, De Gea must play to get his place in the Spain squad for the tournament.

This also means that Keylor Navas will stay at Real Madrid, where he now knows that he is not rated as highly as De Gea, possibly causing friction between him and the club.

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About the author
Harry Robinson
Deputy Editor-in-Chief at VAVEL UK, and Manchester United Editor.