Classic Transfer: Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze signs five-year deal with Manchester United
Gabriel Heinze became Manchester United's second signing of the summer when he agreed to join the Red Devils from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £6.9 million in June 2004.
The first, Alan Smith, had caused plenty of controversy after deciding to swap Elland Road for Old Trafford, but it was the Stretford End's feathers that were ruffled when the Argentine defender departed three years later.
However, before Heinze burned several bridges, he proved to be an instant hit under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The versatile defender, who possessed a tenacious attitude tailor made for the physicality of England's top tier, became the club's first-choice left back.
Such was the seamless manner of his adjustment to the English game, Heinze became the first player from outside of Europe to win the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award at the end of his debut campaign on these shores.
There was just no messing about with Heinze; just ask Gennaro Gattuso.
The United faithful took the defender to their hearts and regular chants of 'Ar-gen-tina' rained down onto the pitch whenever an opponent found himself on the end of a full-bloodied challenge from Heinze.
Matters began to turn sour when the Argentina international suffered serious cruciate ligament damage during a Champions League fixture against Villarreal and was ruled out for the majority of the 2005/06 campaign.
On his return, Heinze had been usurped at full back by Patrice Evra and had to wait to force his way back into the first-team fold in the centre of defence.
Unsatisfied with his route from stalwart to fringe player, Heinze nailed his colours to the mast in sensational fashion and attempted to engineer a move to United's arch rivals Liverpool. Inadvisable actions.
Sir Alex Ferguson quashed such attempts and declared that the defender would not be allowed to join a Premier League outfit, Anfield or otherwise.
Following a very public spat a transfer tribunal ruled in United's favour and, with the pair's relationship broken beyond repair, Heinze was sold to Real Madrid in the summer of 2007.
The Scotsman had dug his heels in and ensured that, once again, it was he, not his players, that held the power at Old Trafford.
In truth, Heinze's knee injury had robbed him of his pace and United got shot of a player whose best years were beyond him, even if his competitive streak still burned brightly.
Heinze left the Theatre of Dreams with a Premier League and League Cup winners medal, but his reputation amongst the home crowd was in tatters.
After two years in the Spanish capital, Heinze joined Marseille and seemed to have learned from the errors of his past prior to an encounter against United with his new side in the Champions League group stages in 2011.
"I don't have many regrets from my career as a footballer, but that episode with Ferguson has to be one of them. I'm impulsive and strong-willed and this has got me into trouble at times, which was the case when I left United," Heinze declared.
Although his former manager claimed to have no problem with the man who attempted to defect to Merseyside, the travelling United fanbase inside the Stade Velodrome were not so forgiving.
