Navas reveals he cried with relief when 2015 fax blunder killed his Man Utd move

Keylor Navas wept with relief when a fax malfunction scuppered his deadline-day move from Real Madrid to Manchester United in the summer of 2015 — a deal that would have seen David de Gea head in the opposite direction, with United also receiving £29 million as part of the part-exchange arrangement.

The Costa Rica goalkeeper, now 39 and playing for Pumas UNAM in Mexico’s Liga MX, recalled the moment the paperwork arrived two minutes past the midnight deadline, rendering the transfer void. Rather than disappointment, Navas felt only elation.

“I cried that night when I found out I was staying, it was a build-up of emotions,” Navas said in a 2015 interview with Spanish radio station Cadena COPE. “I didn’t want to leave, Madrid is my home. 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 was in a waiting room. I thought that if God wanted me to leave Madrid, it would be for the best, but he didn’t want me to…”

The emotions proved well-founded. Navas went on to become one of the most decorated goalkeepers in Real Madrid’s history, winning three consecutive Champions League titles under Zinedine Zidane, four FIFA Club World Cups, and one La Liga title during his time at the Bernabeu.

De Gea, meanwhile, remained at Old Trafford through a turbulent period following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, as United’s domestic and European fortunes declined sharply. The Spaniard eventually left the club in 2023 when his contract expired.

Navas did eventually experience English football, joining Nottingham Forest on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the second half of the 2022/23 season, helping the club narrowly avoid relegation from the Premier League — a far cry from the Old Trafford stage that had once beckoned.