Diego Maradona once nearly ended up playing for Sheffield United, only to have that move scuppered by Argentina’s junta.
The legendary Argentinian footballer sadly passed away back in November 2020, and would have turned 64 this week four years on from his death. Larger than life, Maradona helped Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 – which included producing his infamous ‘Hand of God’ against England during the quarter-finals in Mexico.
However, during his teenage years, he nearly ended up in England playing for the Blades. In 1978, Maradona, then 17, was turning out for Argentinos Juniors, and began to attract attention from Sheffield United, who were then in the second division.
A deal between the two had been agreed upon, in a move that would have seen Maradona move to Bramall Lane for £150k. But, that was before the junta learned of the prospective deal, which led to it being scuppered.
“At the time, Argentina was run by the military junta, a right-wing coup that overthrew the then president,” Blades club historian John Garrett told Yorkshire Live.
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“That night, [Sheffield United boss Harry] Haslam’s in his room relaxing thinking he’s got this wonder kid and then gets a knock at the door from a member of the military police who has turned up at the hotel.
He’s saying that he has heard we’re paying £150,000 for this player and if United want the military to let Diego out of the country, they would like a payment of £150,000 too.
“So not only have you got a figure of £300,000, which I would imagine is getting towards a fair amount of cash for an untried 17-year-old, but the main problem was that it was starting to get a bit political.”
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Garrett continued, claiming the Blades “ran a mile” once the deal became embroiled in politics and Maradona’s potential teenage switch to Sheffield was over. They instead signed Maradona’s compatriot Alex Sabella who was sold to Leeds United in 1980.
The scouting trip also saw the Blades cast eyes on Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa. However, a Tottenham Hotspur scout was also on the trip, stepped in to bring the pair to North London after United passed up the opportunity to sign them – leaving Blades fans wondering what could have been.