It is difficult not to let Monday’s events cloud the whole of Real Madrid‘s transfer window. Their public failure to sign David De Gea from Manchester United, a player they have been courting for an entire summer, will forever be remembered.

It was a farcical situation, given they had months to arrange a deal, but instead they and United only engaged in talks on the final day, with the deal eventually falling through because they failed to beat the clock.

Madrid lay the blame squarely at Manchester United’s door, publishing a 10-point statement which insists they “did everything necessary, at all times, to ensure that these two transfers happened.”

The other transfer, being that of Keylor Navas to Manchester United, with the English club demanding him in part exchange for Spanish stopper De Gea.

The result of this is that now United seem set to lose De Gea to Madrid on a free transfer, given he has entered the last year of his contract.

But Madrid will instead have to pay De Gea much of the transfer fee (€15 million), as revealed by El Pais, h/t the Guardian.

And, worse still, they now have a first-choice goalkeeper who should be very angry with his club.

Having signed him a season ago, it seemed Navas would have the chance to step out of Iker Casillas‘ shadow and fight to be Real Madrid’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Instead, Madrid showed they clearly did not trust him to help them win titles in that role and preferred to move for De Gea.

If they believed in Navas, they would have simply signed De Gea next season instead of desperately trying to get him on the last day of the window and being frustrated by United’s slow response.

Now Navas must play at the Santiago Bernabeu knowing that Madrid did everything in their power to get rid of him.

Funnily enough, the fans at Real Madrid had just about come around to the idea of him being their first choice.

The Costa Rican was magnificent against Real Betis, saving a Ruben Castro penalty and making a couple of other fine stops as his team won 5-0.

Furthermore, he has two clean sheets in the two La Liga games so far.

So for failing to bring in De Gea, Madrid get an F. It’s the equivalent of making a major error on your driving test after an otherwise fine hour behind the wheel.

Now let’s try to put that saga out of our mind and focus on the players they did manage to bring in.

 

Danilo

Firstly, Danilo. They signed him from Porto a few months ago, though he has only joined the squad this summer.

The Porto right-back cost a lot of money at €31.5 million, but at 24, he has plenty of years ahead of him.

He was an impressive performer in Portugal, and Madrid feel he is ready to make the step up and play at an even higher level.

Few doubt that Danilo will be a good signing, but given they already have Dani Carvajal, 23, it will not drastically change how their team performs.

Verdict: B

 

Casemiro

The next deal is bringing back Casemiro from Porto, activating his €7.5 million buy-out clause.

Porto had loaned the midfielder from Los Blancos and were hoping to keep him, but Madrid, having been impressed by his development, decided to bring him back to the Santiago Bernabeu.

It was a complicated deal, as explained by Marca here:

The Portuguese club’s board had told its counterparts at the Santiago Bernabéu several days ago that it intended to make his loan deal permanent for €15m. The loan deal included a clause allowing the La Liga side to block Porto’s move so long as they told the Portuguese side of their intentions to buy Casemiro back for €7.5m before 5th June. That is what they did.

So Madrid had to shell out for a player they already owned.

Despite this poor business work, they are getting a good defensive midfielder, something they lacked at times last season.

Verdict: B

 

Lucas Vazquez

Similarly, they had to pay to sign another one of their own players in Lucas Vazquez.

The tricky winger had spent the season on loan at Espanyol, and Los Pericos wanted to purchase him. This was for only €1 million, according to Goal.

Madrid are getting a good player, but not one you expect to pull up trees at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The wide man would have to kick on a lot to make an impact at Real Madrid, and it’s easy to imagine his long-term future lies elsewhere.

Verdict: C

 

Kiko Casilla

Another player signed from Espanyol is Kiko Casilla.

The goalkeeper was presumably brought in to play second-fiddle to De Gea, but now it looks like he’ll be battling Navas for the No. 1 jersey.

He’s an impressive, young goalkeeper, and now that the De Gea deal is off, Casilla will be hoping he can replace Casillas, and not just in terms of having a similar name.

He is a good prospect, though occasionally prone to making a glaring error.

Casilla had played at Madrid before, in the youth system, so he will have no problems adapting to life in the Spanish capital.

He was a regular first-choice at Espanyol, and he’s a good back-up to have on the bench.

Verdict: A

 

Mateo Kovacic

Mateo Kovacic was the biggest name that Madrid brought in this summer.

The Inter Milan star is not expected to play a huge part this season unless injury affects Luka Modric or Toni Kroos, but the 21-year-old has a huge future ahead of him.

He has drawn some comparisons to his Croatian compatriot, Modric, but a more similar player is Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta.

Obviously, Kovacic has a long way to go to match the Spanish star, but Madrid clearly feel he can do it, and that’s why they put €32 million on the table for him.

An inventive attacking midfielder who can also play in deeper positions, Kovacic isn’t really a player Madrid need right now.

They have Gareth Bale currently playing the No. 10 role, and there is no shortage of competition for it, with James Rodriguez and Isco keen to start in that position.

That makes his signing odd, but there is no doubt that Madrid have gotten themselves a quality player, and it would be churlish to give him anything other than a top grade when you consider the impact he may have in a few years.

Modric even claimed, per Sport, that he will win the Ballon d’Or within two years. That won’t happen, but it’s high praise indeed.

Verdict: A+

 

Jesus Vallejo

Jesus Vallejo, the Real Zaragoza centre-back, has also joined the club, but he’s been loaned back for this season.

At €5 million, Madrid have signed one of the hottest prospects in Spanish football for an excellent price.

While it will be a while before we see if he can reach his potential, this looks like an excellent deal.

Verdict: A+

 

Outgoings

Asier Illarramendi, Sami Khedira, Casillas, Lucas Silva and Fabio Coentrao have left, either permanently or on loan.

Based on last season’s form, bar Casillas, they will not be missed. Marco Asensio has gone on loan to Espanyol, and if he can play and develop there, it will be great experience for a talented youngster.

Fans can have no complaints with the outgoings at Madrid.

Verdict: A

 

So Real Madrid have clearly done some decent work in the window. But it will go down in history more for what they didn’t do than for what they did.

And if Navas‘s confidence has been shaken, and Casilla can’t step up and handle the pressure, we may be talking about De Gea for a long time to come.

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