Every time Real Madrid wins a trophy, we appreciate the players who have done their job well. While praising the players, we can’t help but sing the praises of Real Madrid’s President Florentino Perez, for assembling such a wonderful squad with immensely talented players.
The visionary called Perez did sign a lot of special players, but sometimes he failed to buy some players, and sometimes he chose not to sign some players. And some of those failed transfers or rejections have proved to be a blessing for the club in the long run.
Let us have a look at five such players, without whom Real Madrid has been better and fans have had the chance to say that “We are glad Florentino Perez didn’t sign them”.
1. David de Gea
After Iker Casillas’ departure from Real Madrid, the club needed to find a successor to the club’s greatest goalkeeper ever. Los Blancos thought of Manchester United’s David de Gea, who was the Spanish team’s first-choice keeper back then, as the right option to replace Spain’s former first-choice keeper.
Everything was agreed between Real Madrid and Manchester United for a swap deal involving De Gea and Keylor Navas on the deadline day of the 2015 summer transfer window. But the deal couldn’t be completed, due to United’s inability to submit the paperwork on time. Legend says that it is a faulty fax machine, that prevented De Gea from moving back to Madrid.
At that time, it was a shame for the club that a high profile failed due to an unforeseen situation. Reports suggested that Real Madrid was interested in signing the Spaniard in 2017 as well, but a move never looked likely that summer.
In hindsight, the fans can say that the transfer failure has been a blessing in disguise for Madrid. If anyone said the same thing in June 2018, people would’ve laughed at that statement, because De Gea was one of the best goalkeepers in the world back then, and had a fantastic 2017/18 season. But he hasn’t been the same since the 2018 World Cup, and his level has dropped by a lot. Recurring mistakes became the new normal for fans watching De Gea regularly, and his flaws became more and more evident.
Because of the deal’s failure, Keylor Navas remained at Madrid and went on to play a crucial role in the club’s Champions League three-peat from 2015/16 to 2017/18. Real also got to sign a better keeper in the form of Thibaut Courtois in 2018, a deal that couldn’t have been possible if De Gea was signed by the Merengues.