Friday, 11 September 2015

De Gea contract is final twist to bizarre summer.

It's official: after months of talk, rumours, acrimony, claims and counter claims, David de Gea remains a United player.

Whether he will still be snaffled up by long time admirers Real remains to be seen (I've got the feeling we've not heard the last of this), but we've got our star stopper for at least another year and, should he eventually leave, it's going to test the financial power of Real to its limit.

What a strange summer it's been: from Memphis to Martial and seemingly everyone in between, life's never dull at the greatest club in the world.
The signing of the Dutch winger seems a lifetime ago now and wasn't a huge surprise.
We quietly sealed the addition of Darmian and a double dose of midfield bite when Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger quickly followed. 


All this time, De Gea's 'will he won't he' saga rumbled on, indeed it seemed a case of when, not if, he would finally be presented as a Real Madrid player.
Having strengthened the midfield and defence, Ed Woodward set off in pursuit of a "world class" forward.
By this time, United had "entered talks" with Real for the sale of De Gea, and, in what seemed at the time to be confirmation of the Spaniard's imminent departure, Sergio Romero signed for the Reds on a free. 


Pedro seemed only a matter of time (the deal was reportedly done), but, then in a dramatic U-turn that was to eventually echo that of De Gea, Chelsea stole in and nabbed the attacker right under the noses of a reeling United.

Quite possibly the most ridiculous rumour of this- indeed any- summer, was to then follow: United had bid an eye watering amount for Neymar. 

Of course, nothing transpired (like Neymar at OT was EVER going to happen) but the media were not done there and, as the days ticked down, the list of United's targets grew ever more mind boggling (Thomas Muller, Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski to name but just three).

Having been linked to a whole host of stellar, superstar names all summer, we eventually ended up with an unknown and untested French teenager whom no-one had heard of in Anthony Martial, which is a bit like rejecting Mila Kunis and ending up with Susan Boyle (with respect). 

Deadline day loomed and still De Gea's future was not resolved: what was taking so long, we asked.
Well.... now we know. 


The paperwork missed the deadline, the deal collapsed, Real fumed and blamed United and De Gea ultimately ended the window back where he started it: as a Manchester United player in surely the most dramatic transfer U-turn of all time. 

Yep, it's fair to say that's it been another unpredictable, rollercoaster, up and down summer in the history of this great club! 







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