The football world said goodbye to an icon on Wednesday in Diego Maradona, who died at the age of 60.
The numerous tributes that have poured in for the flawed genius show how much of an impact the Argentine had on making people fall in love with the game.
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Maradona is best known for what he did in a World Cup quarter-final tie against England 1986 which showed both sides of his extraordinary character.
His infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal is still rued by England supporters and celebrated in Argentina. But everyone takes their hat off to his second goal as he ran through the entire Three Lions side, the strike being dubbed the ‘Goal of the Century’.
He was at his brilliant best when playing for the national side and at Napoli, taking the club from an unfancied Italian outfit to two Serie A titles.
But it could have been Sheffield United who reaped the benefits of Maradona’s magic, as they claim so close to signing him back in the summer of 1978.
There are different schools of thought about how Maradona‘s move to Bramall Lane fell through but Yorkshire Live‘s version perfectly shows how it was never a dull moment whenever the great man was involved.
A new obsession for players from Argentina developed following their controversial World Cup triumph on home soil in 1978 – but that story on how they lifted the iconic trophy is for another day.
The Blades, a second division side at the time, flew with representatives from Tottenham on a scouting mission to see what talent they could find in the South American nation.
Then-Sheffield United boss Harry Haslam and director John Hassle joined Spurs counterpart Keith Burkinshaw and his party on a flight to Buenos Aires.
United already had deals in place for Alejandro Sabella and Pedro Verde and are understood to have had their eyes on Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa, however, it was decided they would go to White Hart Lane following talks between Sheffield United and Spurs.
But the disappointment of missing out on Ardiles and Villa would have been totally eclipsed had a deal been completed for a young 17-year-old who was left out of Argentina’s World Cup winning squad. It was Maradona.
After watching him in a training session with Argentinos Juniors, Haslam was reportedly ‘mesmerised’ by Maradona and promptly said: “I’ll take him, how much?”
A £150,000 deal was agreed between Sheffield United and Argentinos Juniors, however, the move collapsed following an unlikely intervention later that evening.
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Haslam was reportedly greeted at his hotel room door by members of Argentina’s notorious military police, a right-wing coup that had overthrown the previous president.
The junta were happy to let Maradona leave the country but only if Sheffield United paid them £150,000 on top of what they were already going to pay Argentinos Juniors.
That kind of money on a relatively unproven 17-year-old is always a risk but it’s understood Sheffield United were able to pay it. However, the Yorkshire club were uncomfortable making the deal political and the move was off.
We’ll never know how Maradona would have fared at Bramall Lane but if what he did at Napoli is anything to go by, perhaps the course of English football history would have changed in Sheffield United’s favour.
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