Real Madrid ultimately still failed to sign De Gea.
According to Marca, when Real Madrid tentatively asked Manchester United about the possibility of selling De Gea, Ferguson rejected them without hesitation. The Manchester United manager stated that De Gea would absolutely not be sold.
After hitting a wall with De Gea, Real Madrid immediately changed targets and signed their own Youth Training Player from Sevilla: former Spain international Diego López. To obtain the goalkeeper, Real Madrid paid €3.5 million, exactly the price Sevilla had paid Villarreal for Diego López in the summer of 2012.
This season, Diego López had failed to win a starting spot in his competition with Palop. He was currently stuck on the bench at Sevilla, and he desperately wanted to join Real Madrid because he knew very well that Casillas's injury would give him an opportunity.
The transfer had been completed with astonishing speed. From Real Madrid making the proposal, to Valdano flying to Sevilla for negotiations, to Real Madrid officially announcing the signing, only one day had passed.
But only a very small number of people knew that Real Madrid still had not given up on De Gea. Florentino was still racking his brains, hoping to sign De Gea that summer and give Real Madrid's goalkeeping position a double safeguard.
At noon on January 27, at Bernabéu.
In the twenty-first round of La Liga, Real Madrid hosted Getafe.
New signing Diego López had been included in the squad but did not start.
Before kickoff, the entire Real Madrid team changed into matching T-shirts bearing the words, "Come on, Igor!" across the chest. They were encouraging and offering their best wishes to captain Casillas, hoping he would recover and return as soon as possible.
This was Real Madrid's first match of the season played