Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has ruled out a deal for David De Gea in January and suggested he expects the goalkeeper to sign a new contract at Manchester United.
Real were close to signing De Gea last month in a transfer that would have seen Keylor Navas move in the opposite direction, but the clubs were unable to complete the deal before the end of the transfer deadline on Aug. 31.
However, Perez said there was no prospect of Los Blancos making a move for De Gea in January, when the Spain international would be ineligible for Real in the knockout stages of the Champions League if he plays for his current side in the group stage.
"We will certainly not sign De Gea in January," Perez told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.
Real were reported to have agreed to pay around €30 million to sign De Gea, despite the goalkeeper having entered the final year of his United contract.
Asked why his club were willing to pay so much for a player who would be eligible to move on a free transfer next summer, Perez replied: "They don't become free.
"The great players are never free. The ones that arrive for free and that are available are mediocre players."
Perez also said Real, who have Navas, summer signing Kiko Casilla and Ruben Yanez on the books, were not currently thinking about signing De Gea next year.
"Right now, we don't contemplate this," he said. "We have three magnificent goalkeepers."
Marca reported in July that Real had agreed to pay De Gea €5m if they failed to sign him this summer in a bid to stop the 24-year-old from signing a contract extension with United, but Perez said: "We have not told him not to renew."
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has told De Gea it will be difficult to select him at Euro 2016 if he is not first choice with his club, and AS recently claimed the keeper was planning to sign a new deal at Old Trafford.
Perez suggested that De Gea would agree an extension, saying: "It's difficult that a player will remain a year without playing. De Gea has to do what is best for his career.
"I have not spoken to him, not now and not on the 31st [transfer deadline day]. [Real general director] Jose Angel Sanchez did."
Perez had previously blamed United's inexperience for the failure to sign De Gea and he added: "He, through his agent [Jorge Mendes], preferred not to renew and to come to Spain.
"We had to make an effort in order for the player not to feel abandoned. They [United] tried until the end to renew his deal and only decided to sell him 12 hours before [the transfer deadline].
"We had a commitment towards him, they [United] told us the cost [of the transfer] 12 hours before [the deadline] and the rest we've already spoken about.
"We did our job as best we could. We didn't get there on time because Manchester did not have the necessary experience to undertake these things on the final day, as was the case with Fabio Coentrao."
Coentrao came close to joining United on loan from Real in the summer of 2013 but the deal fell through on transfer deadline day.
United had also been keen to sign Real defender Sergio Ramos this summer but the Spain international, who was reported to have been angry with the club, eventually committed to a contract extension until 2020.
However, Perez said Real did not receive any offers for either Ramos or reported Arsenal target Karim Benzema this summer.
"There were interests," he said. "United asked two or three times for Ramos but it was impossible that he would leave.
"The possibility that Ramos would leave was zero. He never wanted to leave Real and the club knew that Ramos would never leave. It took us five minutes to reach a deal."
United were also strongly linked with Bale this summer, but his agent said this week that the Wales international was "nowhere near" a move, and Perez said: "Bale wants to win at Madrid and he has a lot of faith."