Former Manchester United star Gabriel Heinze once was regarded as a legend in the making at the club.

Joining the Red Devils from PSG in 2004, a Premier League title followed as the Old Trafford faithful adored his full-blooded commitment on the pitch – until he tried to leave United under hugely controversial circumstances.

Heinze's next move was viewed as self-sabotage of the highest order as the Argentinian star set fire to his United legacy when he attempted to force a move to Liverpool in the summer of 2007.

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In doing so he subsequently broke one of English football's most sacred yet unwritten rules: players not move from United to their bitter rivals and vice-versa.

Heinze, now 47, is now set to join Mikel Arteta’s coaching staff at Arsenal ahead of the new season as the Gunners are in the midst of a coaching reshuffle, with former assistant Carlos Cuesta having departed for Parma.

Heinze's return to the Premier League will no doubt ignite memories of one of English football's most brutal transfer sagas of when the Argentinian was seeking to traipse the M62 divide and join then-manager Rafa Benitez at Liverpool.

Yet the union of Heinze and Liverpool will always be a case of 'What if?' Former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson spectacularly dug his heels in to ensure that the defender would never get his wish.

It began as Heinze's agent, Roberto Rodriguez, was reportedly informed by United's then-chief executive David Gill that he could leave for £6.8million.

Gabriel Heinze won the Premier League before trying to force a move to Liverpool.

In another twist to one of the Premier League's bloodiest transfer tussles, it later emerged that Crystal Palace were offered the chance to buy Heinze by a South American-based agency, and then sell him to Liverpool straight after.

This would allegedly pocket the Eagles £1m in compensation, as revealed by former Palace chairman Simon Jordan in his memoir, Be Careful What You Wish For.

"My stance was no way were we getting involved and I told Alexander to contact David Gill, Manchester United’s chief executive, and tell him of these attempted shenanigans, which he duly did," Jordan wrote.

Heinze and his agent eventually took the case to a Premier League arbitration panel in a bid to engineer the move.
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