Man United's Coentrao move hangs in the balance after La Liga retract statement confirming deal



Manchester United's 11th-hour loan swoop for Real Madrid left back Fabio Coentrao is on the rocks as the club wait to find out if the necessary paperwork was completed in time for the deal to go through.

Having missed out on Leighton Baines, Red Devils manager David Moyes turned his attentions to Coentrao and it seemed he had pulled off an amazing last-ditch coup when the move was officially confirmed by La Liga officials.

On the rocks: Coentrao's move to Man United hit a snag late on Monday night

At around 10.45pm on Monday night, La Liga announced the Coentrao deal and Real Madrid's signing of Brazilian left back Guilherme Siqueira on a season-long loan from Granada.

But both of those statements were later retracted, with reports in Spain claiming that Benfica have hijacked Real's deal for Siqueira, resulting in the Spanish giants pulling the plug on the Coentrao move at the last minute.

United confirmed the £27.5million arrival of midfielder Marouane Fellaini on their official website and they are expected to make an announcement on Coentrao on Tuesday morning.



Should the deal fall through then the news will be greeted with dismay by United fans, who have been less than impressed with the club's dealings during the window.



Highly rated: Coentrao is considered among the best left backs in Europe

Done deal: Everton have confirmed the £27.5m sale of Marouane Fellaini to Old Trafford

And it leaves Moyes in the tricky position of needing to explain to Patrice Evra why he felt another left back was required.

One theory was that Coentrao would have operated at left back, with Evra in a more advanced role, which he played during his early years as a professional.



Nevertheless, Evra's form last season and the early weeks of the current one was not that of a man who needed replacing.

