Goalkeeping icon Keylor Navas broke down in tears after his high-profile transfer to Manchester United fell through.
However, it was not sadness that brought tears to the Costa Rican on deadline day in the summer of 2015. Navas was used as a bargaining chip for United in a swap deal that would have seen David De Gea move to Real Madrid.
However, the transfer never materialized due to an alleged fax machine malfunction, which resulted in the paperwork not being submitted on time. As a result, both goalkeepers remained at their respective clubs, with Navas expressing relief at being allowed to stick around in the Spanish capital.
“I cried that night when I found out I was staying, it was an accumulation of emotions,” he told Spanish radio station Cadena COPE in September 2015 (via Manchester Evening News). “I didn't want to leave, Madrid is my home.
“I never wanted to leave Real Madrid. My agent told me to be alert to my phone. We had to go to Barajas [airport]although I never actually got on a plane – I sat in a waiting room. I thought that if God wanted me to leave Madrid, that would be for the best, but He didn't want me to do that. . .”
Both sides ultimately benefited from the situation, as Navas was Real's number 1 during one of the most successful periods in football history. The 38-year-old was the key figure between the posts as Real became the first club to win three consecutive Champions League titles (or European Cups) since Bayern Munich in the 1970s.
Premier League champion De Gea – who spent one season without a club before signing for Fiorentina last year – could not quite replicate his success at United. The 34-year-old added an FA Cup to his trophy cabinet in 2016 and later won the Europa League title, along with two Carabao Cups.
Navas eventually left Madrid in 2019 and spent the next five years on the books at Paris Saint-Germain. He spent the second half of the 2022/23 season on loan at Nottingham Forest before leaving Paris last year with three Ligue 1 titles and three Coupes de France.
Despite being without a club since May last year, Navas has not officially announced his retirement from football. However, his legacy at Real cemented his status as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and many United fans may have wished they had secured his hand almost a decade ago.
Comments