LONDON: The deadline arrived, but the announcement never did.

In a surreal ending to the last day of the summer window on the European continent, the much-anticipated move of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to Real Madrid never materialised on Monday.

La Liga sources confirmed on Tuesday that De Gea hasn’t been registered as a Real player as his prolonged transfer collapsed after the Spanish transfer window closed at midnight local time (2200GMT) on Monday.

“The player is not registered,” a spokesperson for the Spanish Professional League (LFP) said on Tuesday.

Real seemed set to conclude the long-running transfer saga with a deal that would see the Spanish giants pay up to 30 million euros ($33.5 million) for De Gea, with Costa Rican international goalkeeper Keylor Navas moving to United for a fee in the region of 15 million euros as part of the deal.

Initial reports suggested that the documentation needed to formalise the transfer wasn’t completed before the Spanish transfer window closed, but that Real hope proof of an agreement between the clubs will be enough to push the deal through.

“Everything has been cancelled unless there is an unexpected turnaround, “Madrid sports daily AS said on Tuesday.

“The Spanish goalkeeper's contract didn't arrive in time with the league. The first reports suggested that United had sent the required documentation late, but Real are sure they have proof that shows the English club sent the documentation at 2359 and that they sent it just after to the league.”

It left many wondering what exactly went wrong — and how two of world football’s biggest clubs could mess things up so badly.

According to FIFA rules, for a player to transfer to another country, their new club and his previous club have to submit certain information and documentation to the world governing body's so-called Transfer Matching System (TMS).

The TMS then generates an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) which permits the transfer of the player's registration from one country to another.

FIFA said it could not comment on whether both clubs had submitted the information correctly because all transfer documents are confidential.

De Gea has just one year left on his contract at Old Trafford meaning he could join Real for free next year if the transfer doesn’t go through now.

ALL EYES ON UNITED

Unlike the rest of Europe, the Premier League’s transfer deadline day is Tuesday and United were the centre of attention with a move involving Anthony Martial awaiting completion.

United manager Louis van Gaal promised that there would be no panic signings before the transfer deadline but the recruitment of French forward Martial appears to be exactly that.

Van Gaal has been linked with some of Europe's leading forwards, including Thomas Mueller, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, but he has turned to 19-year-old Martial to boost his threadbare attacking resources though the deal was yet to be officially confirmed by United or Monaco.

United are expected to confirm a staggering deal of around $55.2 million (49 million euros) for the 19-year-old, who left France's training camp on Monday in order to sign a contract at Old Trafford.

Premier League clubs have already spent nearly 800 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in this window, which is close to breaking its record of 835 million pounds set last summer, according to football finance expert Deloitte.

“This level of spending continues to be driven in large part by the increases in domestic and overseas broadcast revenue in recent years,” said Alex Thorpe, senior manager in Deloitte's Sports Business Group.

On Monday, Bayer Leverkusen signed United’s Mexican striker Javier Hernandez from for a reported fee $11 million (9.9 million euros) while their fellow Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund signed winger Adnan Januzaj on loan for a season from the Old Trafford club.

Bundesliga’s biggest transfer on deadline day saw VfL Wolfsburg breaking their club transfer record by signing Germany midfielder Julian Draxler from Schalke 04 on a five-year deal estimated at 35 million euros ($39.25 million) as a replacement for Belgium playmaker Kevin de Bruyne.

German media estimate that Wolfsburg collected about 100 million euros ($112.15 million) for De Bruyne and Ivan Perisic, who joined Manchester City and Inter Milan, respectively.

Wolfsburg also confirmed the arrival of Brazil defender Dante from Bayern Munich.

MIDFIELD BOOST

The 21-year-old Draxler was long-time target for Juventus and the Italians reacted on losing out on the German World Cup winner by signing midfielders Hernanes and Mario Lemina following their worst ever Serie A start.

Juve, currently sitting at 17th in the league, lost several key players like Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo this summer.

Brazilian Hernanes joined from rivals Inter Milan in an 11-million euro ($12.3 million) transfer — plus up to a further 2 million euros in sporting-related bonuses — and signed a three-year contract while Lemina moved from French side Marseille on a loan deal.

Juve, the league and Cup double winners last season and who were beaten by Barcelona in the Champions League final, lost their opening two Serie A matches for the first time in their history.

Previously compared to Pirlo for his cool head and technique while in possession, Hernanes will be welcomed at Juve amid their minor crisis.

Inter were also active on the final day and completed moves for AS Roma forward Adem Ljajic (loan) as well as midfielder Felipe Melo (permanent) and defender Alex Telles (loan) from Galatasaray.

Meanwhile, in early deadline-day business in England on Tuesday, Everton announced the signing of Argentine centre-back Ramiro Funes Mori from River Plate on a five-year contract.

Having been rebuffed three times in their pursuit of Everton defender John Stones, Chelsea signed Senegal centre-back Papy Djilobodji from Nantes on a four-year deal, the French club announced.

Meanwhile, West Ham United have brought in Alex Song and Victor Moses on loan, from Barcelona and Chelsea respectively, and signed Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic from Hull City on a two-year deal.