Rumours that the paperwork didn't get put in on time for the coentrao deal
Manchester United’s last-gasp attempt to bring in a new left back failed because they had left a complex two player three club operation too late in the transfer window.
Real Madrid wanted Fabio Coentrao off their wage list for a season having failed to sell him and his agent Jorge Mendes wanted to move him to Old Trafford.
United boss David Moyes hoped to sign the Portugal defender on a season-long loan deal after failing to land Everton left back Leighton Baines.
Missed out: Fabio Coentrao will not be joining up with Wayne Rooney at Manchester United
But for Madrid to sanction the move, they had to have time to bring in Granada left back Guilherme Siqueira in his place and he had already gone out on loan to Benfica.
Siquiera had been left out Granada’s team during the last two weeks of the season and was on stand-by to replace Coentrao.
But with it appearing that Coentrao would be going nowhere Benfica moved for the attacking full back and closed his loan deal.
Deal breaker: Real Madrid wanted Guilherme Siqueira (right) to replace Coentrao but he already joined Benfica
When United finally moved for Coentrao, Madrid tried to undo Siquiera's temporary switch to Portugal and there was hope for the English champions when it appeared both Coentrao’s move to England and Siqueira’s transfer to Madrid had been cleared by the league.
But Benfica resisted and there was a lack of will on Madrid’s part, delighted at the business they had done with selling Ozil to Arsenal for £42.5million, and having already told coach Carlo Ancelotti he was keeping Coentrao.
Ancelotti had told Madrid president Florentino Perez that he wanted the full back to stay and had even gone public on the player remaining at the club at the weekend.
There were too many parties wanting to block the deal for United to push it through despite the efforts of Mendes.
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Coentrao will now be included in Real Madrid’s Champions League squad, leaving United without the man they hoped would compete with Patrice Evra at left-back.
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