David De Gea will put the circus of his collapsed move to Real Madrid behind him and focus all his attention on winning his place back at Manchester United.
The Spain international entered the final 12 months of his contract at Old Trafford earlier this summer, but speculation over a transfer to the Bernabeu began long before. With Los Blancos legend Iker Casillas leaving the club after a 25-year association and doubts over current options Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla, De Gea was considered the ideal long-term successor in goal.
Since leaving Atletico Madrid for Manchester in 2011, the 24-year-old has established himself as perhaps the finest goalkeeper in Europe. As much as United depend on his talent, they were also aware that the player wanted to return to his homeland and, having left him out of their side in the opening weeks, accepted a bid for his signature on transfer deadline day in Spain.
This deal was worth £29.5million and also included Navas moving to Old Trafford, but it soon descended into farce which led to a bitter war of words between the two giants. Real first of all laid the blame of the collapsed move at the door of the English club who, in a statement which ran to 10 points, they claimed delayed opening talks and processing paperwork for Navas.
United responded to this on Tuesday when they issued a statement with nine points of their own, in which they insist they did everything they could to ensure the transfer was completed before the Spanish deadline. The Premier League side claim Real were responsible for the bulk of the papers, and it was they who failed to upload key documents onto the system in time.
De Gea has now linked up with his international pals ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia on Saturday and Macedonia the following Tuesday. When he returns he will hope to be considered as United face Liverpool at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, as it is now understood that he is determined to win his place back from the Argentina international Sergio Romero.
Cadena SER, meanwhile, claim there is no chance Real will return to United in the New Year with a fresh bud to take their number one in the January transfer window. They could, though, wrap up the signature of the former Vicente Calderon favourite on a pre-contract agreement, allowing him to finally make the move to the Bernabeu on a free transfer next summer.
Unlike Real, United were able to seal a big signing on deadline day when they paid £36million to take teenage strike Anthony Martial from Monaco. The 19-year-old, who scored eight goals for the Ligue 1 side last season, is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in French football, and has been given the number nine shirt as he looks to make an immediate impact in England.
