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David de Gea probably should have been travelling to Barcelona today preparing for Real Madrid's La Liga match against Espanyol tomorrow.

Instead he will be ensconced in United's Manchester city centre hotel base getting set for the tea-time showdown with Liverpool at Old Trafford.

It may have been a bizarre, messy story but United have emerged from it with dignity and reputation enhanced.

The Reds have sent a message to Real Madrid that no longer will it be a case of what the Spaniards want, the Spaniards get.

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The 24-year-old goalkeeper is now likely to be in Louis van Gaal's XI against the Anfielder's playing his first competitive match for the Reds since he was forced off against Arsenal on May 17 with a hamstring injury.

As he limped away to the tunnel De Gea clapped the United fans in a gesture that was interpreted as a 'thank you and goodbye.'

The Real Madrid saga was already up and running amid stories that the Spanish giants were ready to step in during the summer transfer window to snap the Spanish international number one heir apparent on the cheap with his Old Trafford contract having just 12 months to run.

David De Gea's best United saves in pictures.

United had put a very large lucrative new contract on the table to keep De Gea at the Reds.

But the Spaniard remained tight-lipped and the agreement went untouched.

But having lost David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo to Real in big deals in the past United dug their heels in and were not prepared to be bulldozed into submission by Madrid president Florentino Perez.

Real were in a massive lead when it came to the scoreline over transfers between the two clubs.

United may have been over £100m in pocket because of such headline deals but Madrid looked the dominant force.

Now United have hit back.

It appeared Real held all the aces and the odds were stacked against United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward winning this war.

But United made it known De Gea would not leave for peanuts. They wanted a world record fee for a goalkeeper to match the £33m Juventus paid Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001.

They almost got it when Real were ready to offer £18m plus the £11m rated Keylor Navas on deadline day.

The deal infamously collapsed amid recriminations and a war of words via statements from both clubs.

But United moved swiftly to ensure the saga would not drag even further on and once the transfer window shut on September 2 Woodward was in contact with David de Gea's agent Jorge Mendes and the keeper himself to tell them the original deal was still on the table.

It was a sensible move and sensibly taken on board by De Gea. There were no guarantees Real would return with a pre-contract offer in January.

United have played this particular game superbly. They made it plain Real would not get De Gea on the cheap, if his dream to play for Los Blancos had been forced through then United were determined they'd get a substantial compensation.

They almost got that but now they have something even better with the future of one of the best goalkeeper's in the world secured until 2019 and Madrid are licking their wounds!