Real Madrid president says Manchester United's inexperience to blame for De Gea fiasco

The war of words between Real Madrid and Manchester United is showing no signs of ending following Florentino Perez's remarks about the English club's negotiation tactics.

The Real Madrid president revealed that while he regrets that a transfer to bring the Spanish 'keeper to Madrid didn't come to fruition, he blames United's inexperience and efforts to get a deal done in the final minutes of the transfer window for the failure to bring David De Gea to the Santiago Bernabeu.

"At 1:30 (Spanish local time), we did the transfer contract between the clubs of both the players and we sent them. They took eight hours to return them," Perez told Spanish outlet El Larguero. "I don't think it was in bad faith. I think it was just that they had a lot of work. After that there was very little time left.

"(The paperwork) came in at 24:02 and they sent them at 24:00. They arrived past the deadline. It is bad luck.

"I don't want to blame anyone but we don't really understand whether they needed eight hours to review the contracts or if it was just that they wanted to wait until the last minute to negotiate. When they said they would negotiate, I knew that we wouldn't get it done because I knew about Manchester United's lack of experience."

Perez added that United were eager to move De Gea before the Aug. 31 after the two sides agreed to a £29-million fee. He also said that a promise had been made to the 24-year-old last summer about a move to the Spanish capital.

"A year ago, we understood that the future after Iker (Casillas) was De Gea and we had made a promise to him," Perez said. "Now we don't have any idea what we will do next year.

- With translation from ESPNFC