Manchester United's Angel Di Maria was the transfer window's biggest move - here MEN Sport's James Robson looks at his journey to United.
Depending on who is telling the story, Angel Di Maria was once sold for anything between 20 to 35 footballs.
Whatever the exact figure, it is a world away from the British record £59.7m deal that took him from Real Madrid to Old Trafford this summer.
Yet it is a measure of his prodigious talent – even as a child, aged four – that Rosario Central were prepared to sweeten the deal with their unorthodox offer to his local club El Torito.
His ability has taken him from playing football on the streets of his hometown of Perdriel in Argentina to the Bernabeu and now Old Trafford.
His thrilling talent has convinced Louis van Gaal to make him the biggest signing in the history of United and fuelled supporters with hope he can follow in the footsteps of iconic No.7s like George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Di Maria’s early path towards football stardom is, in part, due to the advice of a doctor, who convinced his mother Diana to introduce her overly-energetic son to sport.
Actually, football was in his blood.
His father Miguel was a talented player before a knee injury ended his hopes of making a career in the game – instead earning a living working in a coal yard along with Di Maria’s mother.
Di Maria too would help out in the yard with the family providing the charcoal for the neighbourhood’s traditional Argentinian barbecues, asados.
His upbringing was not a privileged one but provided a firm grounding for the 26-year-old, who has gone on to achieve fame and fortune.
His success enabled the family to finally give up the back-breaking work in the coal yard.
When he earned his first major move to Benfica in 2007 Di Maria insisted he could afford to look after them and repay the sacrifices they made for him during his formative years.
It was a gesture that was indicative of his strong family ties and appreciation of the efforts his parents made to make his dream a reality.
As a child his mother would carry him and his two sisters on her bike for the 30-minute ride to Rosario for him to play.
Such dedication was rewarded as he blossomed as a player.
“My parents worked so they could earn enough to buy me a pair of football boots,” he said. “It’s something I will always keep inside me.
“For me to play football and have boots meant my two sisters went without.
“I often think how lucky I am to have football. I was a terrible student. If I didn’t have football I would have continued to work in the coal yard. What else would I have done?”
Despite his staggering price tag, Di Maria does not cut the figure of the pampered Premier League star.
He has a permanent reminder of his relatively humble roots tattooed on his left arm.
An ode to his hometown claims that being born in La Perdriel will always be the ‘the best thing that ever happened to me.’
Further evidence that he has not forgotten his days back in Argentina came when he hired a private jet to fly his six best friends to this summer’s World Cup final in Brazil.
Yet while Di Maria’s bond with his beginnings displays his softer side, within him also burns a fierce determination to succeed. It saw him take the brave decision to bid farewell to his homeland as a 19-year-old as he sought to progress in his career.
Likewise, a wiry physique that has earned him the nickname Fideo – noodle – is at odds with the strength and energy levels that have set him apart on the pitch.
Former Argentina manager Carlos Bilardo insisted the nickname bull was more apt – owing to such attributes.
He shone at Rosario – drawing the attention of European clubs and ones closer to home.
Boca Juniors wanted him, while Russian side Rubin Kazan thought they had secured a coup in landing one of the emerging superstars of Argentine football before he eventually opted to move to Portuguese giants Benfica.
His father, whose career was cruelly cut short, told his son not to pass up such a huge opportunity.
He did not, with his performances drawing more covetous glances – this time from even bigger clubs.
Sir Alex Ferguson was an admirer at United – and Jose Mourinho too.
He was making a name on the international scene – scoring the winning goal for Argentina in the final of the 2008 Olympics.
He had already been part of his country’s Under-20 World Cup winning squad a year earlier.
He may not have been on the same level as Lionel Messi - who like Di Maria was born in Rosario – but it was clear he was following a well-trodden path of Argentine stars.
He helped Benfica to the Portuguese title in 2010, as well as two League Cups. It was only a matter of time before his big move came, it was just a case of which giant would take the plunge.
Ultimately it was Jose Mourinho’s switch from Inter Milan to Real Madrid that determined his future.
The Portuguese coach, who had just led Inter to Champions League triumph, made Di Maria one of his primary targets upon his arrival at the Bernabeu.
Together they would break Barcelona’s dominance in Spain, clinching the title in 2012.
Mourinho departed a year later but Di Maria continued to shine under Carlo Ancelotti, being named man of the match as Real were crowned European champions for a 10th time with victory over Atletico Madrid, fittingly at Benfica’s Stadium of Light. It proved to be his final hurrah for Real, with van Gaal now banking on him to illuminate Old Trafford.
