United had tried earlier in the summer to arrange a player-plus-cash exchange with Gareth Bale only to receive no encouragement from the Real president, Florentino Perez, and then switched their attention to Sergio Ramos, an episode that finished with the defender signing a new contract at the Bernabéu and being awarded the club captaincy.
Real’s delaying tactics caused intense irritation at Old Trafford and had looked like being successful, capitalising on the fact that United would otherwise have been left with an unhappy goalkeeper who would have been worth nothing to them next summer.
United, in turn, agreed to take on the 28-year-old Navas, even though there is a clear sense in Madrid that he is not ideally suited to English football. Navas joined Madrid in a £7m move from Levante last year and is regarded as a fine shot-stopper but vulnerable to crosses and, at 6ft, shorter than most of the goalkeepers in the Premier League. United’s thinking was swayed by Sergio Romero’s erratic form during the early weeks of the season but the proposed De Gea deal still represented a climbdown, having previously stated there was no way they would let Real dictate the process.
Januzaj’s move to Dortmund reflects how he has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford in the Van Gaal era and a chaotic day at Old Trafford also saw the back-up goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard follow the same route as Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans to become the latest United player to join West Bromwich Albion.
