£110 a week, a new iron and £16.50 in parking tickets - How Sheffield United pushed the boat out to sign Alex Sabella

In reality, United had already snapped up Sabella and his fellow Argentine Pedro Verde before manager Harry Haslam and associates, including Star journalist Tony Pritchett, flew to South America and discovered a young Maradona.

But Sabella’s signing was still a real watershed moment for the Blades, a team on the slide signing players from the country that had just won the World Cup in 1978.

It also included a lot of work behind the scenes to make it happen.

"The first thing that really struck me was the amount of red tape that we had to go through back then,” said United historian John Garrett, writing in his book Folklore and Fables II.

"For a start the club had to petition the Department of Employment to get their permission, then there was a whole pile of stuff between the clubs – their President, Rafael Aragon Cabrera, agreed the fee of 275,000 United States dollars to be paid to them over a period of 120 days – still a hell of a sum back then.

"As soon as he passed to this country as an employee he got a National Insurance number and away we went. We had got him a house at Thorpe Drive in Waterthorpe in the south east of the city, so all good there, but I had never even given a thought to the fact that a house would need furniture!

"The Football League were involved, somehow, and we had to get a quote to ship the lot over here from SB Hogg (Removals) Limited of Burngreave. Apparently, to bring his stuff over back then would have a cost attached of £1,900 to be paid for by the club.

"Incidentally, the house was bought with a mortgage from the Burnley Building Society and he had to sign an agreement with them that was countersigned by United - agreeing that, in the event of his leaving the country and heading back to the land of pampas and polo, we would repay any outstanding balance.

"Upon his signing, he got a weekly basic wage of £110 per week plus appearance, win and points bonuses, so he would have little problem there in meeting dues and demands there I would have thought. He and the club would have been glad that he had found a home – up to that point he and his wife had been resident in the St. George’s Hotel at Kenwood Park, not far from the ground... at the club’s expense!

"United bit the bullet and bought new. Alex needed the lot right down to an iron (£7.50), tableware at £26.42 and some net curtains with which to twitch. Do you think that Eden Hazard asked for some nets when he joined Chelsea? They would look good on a mock Tudor in Esher wouldn’t they? The future manager of Argentina also needed a cleaner. No, not the type who comes in twice a week with a back door key but one that you change the bag on and plug in. Oh, the glamour of it all in ‘78.It all combined to a bill of £2,285.77 of the Queens realm. Eye-watering stuff and clearly the best stuff that money could buy, all signed off by United secretary Dick Chester to keep the Sabellas happy in their new home.”

Sabella was also given a Volkswagen Scirocco by a local car company, and United received two parking tickets issued to Sabella, adding up to a total of £16.50.

As part of his contract, River Plate were obligated to play a friendly game against United, which took place in August 1978. River Plate won the game 2-1 in front of 22,244 fans at Bramall Lane.

Sabella played more than 70 games for United in a two-year spell, scoring eight goals before he left for Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in 1980.

A statement posted by United on Twitter read: “Sheffield United are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former player, Alejandro Sabella.

“Rest in Peace, Alex.”

The former midfielder also played for Estudiantes and Gremio after returning to South America and later managed the Argentinian national team, leading them to the final of the 2014 World Cup.

But Sabella’s side lost 1-0 in extra time in Brazil, to Mario Gotze’s winner for Germany.

“Sabella changed the club,” Garrett added.

"He made us quite sexy again in the eyes of the watching football world. Sheffield United had been off the radar and on the slide for a couple of years and suddenly we explode into the country that has just staged and won the World Cup to sign a player – not any player, the first of his kind in the English game and once again a first for the Blades.

"Sabella was a new dawn for all, the first player to hang your hat or shirt on since Tony Currie had departed up the M1, and boy did we sign up for it. The problem was that Sabella was a yard and a half ahead of most of the other players out on the park and boy did he look out of place, with his socks rolled down - trying hard to dance as some Third Division defender tried hard to remove his ankles from the rest of his body.”

Thank you for reading this article, one of dozens we publish every single day to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative coverage of YOUR club. This depth of Blades coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to from the football team at The Star, please consider taking out a subscription to our new discounted sports-only package. You'll find all the details HERE. Your support is much appreciated. Chris Holt, Football Editor