‘Ar-gen-tina, Ar-gen-tina’ has been ringing around Old Trafford again this season after Lisandro Martinez’s arrival in the summer and Alejandro Garnacho’s breakthrough.
But it’s by no means a new chant and it's one that’s been aired frequently in years gone by. The chorus boomed around the Theatre of Dreams earlier this month when fans welcomed back Martinez as a World Cup winner.
He’s been one of Erik ten Hag’s best signings and the Dutchman’s eagerness to bring The Butcher across the North Sea has been well and truly justified. Upon first landing in Manchester, Martinez gave praise to an ex-player when asked whether he followed any of his countrymen who previously played for United.
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“Yeah, especially Gabriel Heinze. He’s my idol,” he said. "I love the way he played, very aggressive, good mentality, good mentality in the duels. He was a top player.”
Martinez added it was “amazing that I take the flag here to Manchester. I’m very proud of it.” Left-back Heinze arrived at United from Paris Saint-Germain for £6.9m in 2004 with the aim of cementing his place in the Argentina squad ahead of the 2006 World Cup, which would be his first finals.
“Signing for Manchester United does not secure a first-team status with the Argentina national team," Heinze declared as he walked through the doors. "I have a lot of things going through my mind. I have loads of emotion about leaving PSG. I owe them a lot. But my dream is coming true by joining Manchester United. I am going to keep working hard on the other side of the Channel."
He had made his international debut the year prior and featured in every game in his nation’s run to the Copa America final where they lost to Brazil on penalties in the summer before his move. He may not have been too pleased to see Kleberson at Carrington.
Heinze certainly wasn’t happy with Roy Keane at one stage during his stay, too, as the Argentine recalled an altercation with United's captain, who he claims he was knocked out by after a defeat.
Enter stage-left Heinze: “We lost a game and I went in the dressing room first and Roy Keane was second. The team was disastrous. To be honest, I thought I had not played that badly.
“I’m the first one off the pitch when a game ends because I don’t like to talk to anyone [when the team loses]. I went straight to the changing room – I was the first in and Roy was next. I didn’t speak much English then.
“I see that he [Keane] is staring at me and he says ‘f— off.’ I knew that swear word because those are the first things you learn. He comes towards me and I tell him ‘f— off you,’ and that is the last thing I remember. I didn’t even have time to swing my arm…”
Recalling the alleged incident a few years ago, the Argentine explained the subsequent interaction with Sir Alex Ferguson and how he offered to apologise to Keane.
He added: “Ferguson called me up and told me that he knew what had happened. I asked him if I needed to apologise… I mean he was the biggest idol of Manchester United’s history. He (Ferguson) said, ‘no, Roy was like that.’ But he told me not to worry because Roy had already forgotten about that episode.”
Had he? “We went to training and I was very scared,” Heinze continued. “I remember we both went for a ball and I was ready for anything but as the action happened Roy told me, ‘beware — what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch and what happens in the changing room ends there.'”
During an in-house 2005 documentary, Keane said of Heinze: “I hadn’t heard too much about him and we didn’t see him for a few months after he did sign” - which was referencing the fact he missed the first four games for his new club due to his participation in the Athens Olympics. He made up for it by scoring on his debut against Bolton.
Despite a sketchy start to life to United, a great sense of respect grew between Keane and Heinze afterwards.
“I’ve had an excellent relationship with him since that episode,” Heinze said. “He is an extraordinary man. He was one of the best captains the club ever had.”
Not that it was always tranquil. In his 2014 autobiography The Second Half, Keane handed Heinze credit in his own way. "He was a nasty f***er – nasty in training," he wrote.
"We were playing Spurs at home the next day, and we'd always have light training the day before a home game. But it got a bit nasty and it ended up with myself and Gabby having a few tackles on each other.
"He kneed me on the side of my leg and, being the hero that I am, I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to go in for treatment, but I was in agony."
In that 2005 documentary, obviously filmed before Keane's most infamous MUTV appearance which led to his demise at the club, Keane admitted with a grin: “He’s a defender, he’s from Argentina and the type of defenders they have, they’re no-nonsense.
“He’s like that in training. A few of us were surprised in training, it’s OK in a game against the opposition - but steady on a little bit in training. But that’s the way he plays and that’s why he’s such a good player.” In the words of Sir Alex, “ruthless” Heinze “would kick his granny. But an absolute winner."
Heinze would go on to win win fans’ and players’ player of the year in his first campaign, 'Ar-gen-tina' being the cry from the terraces. He played 83 times for United overall, winning the 2006/07 Premier League. It was to be how he would end his stay at Old Trafford although he didn’t know it at the time.
Heinze’s ability to keep the peace wasn’t always strong. After losing his place to Patrice Evra, he rather kicked up a stink when trying to orchestrate a move to Liverpool that summer.
"I can assure you, Liverpool will not be getting Gabriel Heinze," Ferguson said at the time. "We can put that to bed right now.”
He left instead for Real Madrid - where he won La Liga - and by then had already played at the 2006 World Cup, featuring in every game as Argentina bowed out to Germany in the quarter-finals.
But the manner of his exit was something he later regretted. Speaking ahead of a Champions League tie against United with proceeding club Marseille in 2011, he admitted he rued the manner of his exit and his ploy to leave for Liverpool.
He said: "I took the decision and, looking back, I regret it because it meant leaving a great club and their supporters. I was aware of the rivalry [with Liverpool], I knew the risk of going from Manchester to Liverpool and what it means.
"I hope it doesn't tarnish the way they [the supporters] see me and they will remember the three years I had in the team." For some, the jury is still out.
After Marseille, where he lifted the 2009/10 Ligue 1 title, he enjoyed a stint at Roma before returning to boyhood club Newell's Old Boys for two seasons before calling time on his career in 2014.
He’s now the manager of the club and so is presumably in more comfortable surroundings than he found himself in 15 or so years ago.
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