Fans bewildered by Uniteds transfer activity

It seems that the long drawn out saga over David de Gea's future has fizzled out in the most obscure fashion, with Manchester United supposedly not sending the paper work to Real Madrid in time before the Spanish transfer window closed.

Madrid will try to contest this but, as it stands, their tactic of leaving the deal to the last minute may well have backfired.

At the time of writing, Bet365 have Real Madrid at 13/8 to win the league, but if they had managed to acquire their Galactico it may have seen them head the La Liga betting.

The best goalkeeper in England last season would have strengthened their side even further and, with Barcelona’s transfer ban, Madrid have a prime opportunity to get ahead of their main rivals. However, they still have a great chance this year under new manager Rafael Benitez and showed what they can do in an emphatic 5-0 win over Real Betis.

Manchester United, though, don’t look to be in the healthy position many thought they would be in at this time.

Instead of making some big money from a player who wanted to leave, they may now have to hold on to the disgruntled goalkeeper for another season and then allow him to leave for free.

Fans are also highly dissatisfied, referring to United’s transfer policy this summer as complete mayhem. Maybe Louis van Gaal should have listened to the fan that handed him the sheet of paper with transfer advice written on it.

Wayne Rooney’s goal drought in the Premier League so far this season has sparked great debate over whether the once prolific goalscorer still has what it takes. Many are of the belief that he shouldn’t be deployed as a lone striker, and should have some support up front.

With this in mind, it will have been even more disheartening for fans to find out that the main back-up for Rooney - Javier Hernandez - has been sold to Bayer Leverkusen for a mere £7.3million.

Adnan Januzaj has also departed to Germany, to Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan. Having been one of the few goalscorers for United so far with his winner at Aston Villa, it seems odd that the manager would let the Belgian go and reduce his attacking options even further.

All hope is not lost though for the Red Devils, who, in what some are describing as madness, have signed 19-year-old striker, Anthony Martial, from Monaco for upwards of £36million. This seems like an absurdly high fee for an unfinished product who only managed eight goals in 31 Ligue 1 appearances last season.

Although the player has shown great potential and has been likened to Thierry Henry, it may take him a few seasons to become the striker that many are expecting, rather than the instant threat that United need.

Across Manchester, United’s rivals in blue have made some very clever signings in the transfer window. As things stand, the gap between the two teams only looks like widening, just when United fans thought they may have a chance of getting on top again.