Manchester United blame Real Madrid for David de Gea deal collapse while turning down Marco Reus

Manchester United completed the signing of Anthony Martial yesterday, for a fee of £36 million. The fee could increase by around another £20 million, it seems, if the player is part of a successful squad. If he is, it won't matter how much he costs, and if he is, we'll be very surprised, looking at the state of the squad at the moment. That's in the Guardian.

Ian Herbert in the Independent has the inside story on David de Gea's transfer collapse, at least from how Manchester United see it. There's a sense that, just as they've been mucking around the whole transfer window, Real Madrid couldn't help but try and bully their way to a better deal, or try to get out of it at the last minute. It would hardly be a surprise, they are a joke of a club (as are United, but in a much more different way).

On ESPNFC, there are the details on Manchester United's continued parsimony. They were offered Marco Reus for £60 million during the Adnan Januzaj talks, but wouldn't go that high. While Reus does have injury problems, it didn't prevent United from offering a very large fee nonetheless. United are now only spending money when absolutely essential (the early transfers this season), when they panic (Martial), or when they try for a superstar (Gareth Bale or Neymar). It augurs badly.

And that's it for the rumours, which will no doubt continue for the next few months despite the transfer window closing. This week we'll review the squad as it is, and get back to talking about the actual football.