Manchester United were set to sign one of the best attacking talents in South America before tragedy struck.
Salvador Cabanas was crowned both the Paraguayan and South American Footballer of the Year 2007, and Sir Alex Ferguson was said to be a tremendous admirer of the forward.
However, a horrendous attack in 2010 put an end to his Old Trafford dream.
At just 29 years old, Cabanas was shot in the head in the bathrooms of Bar Bar nightclub in Mexico City, where he was the star player for Club America, by a man claiming to be a drug dealer.
Miraculously, he survived.
“I remember everything,” Cabanas recalled.
“He started to insult me and suddenly took out a gun. He pointed it at me and told me ‘I am JJ, the most wanted drug dealer. And today is your last day because you’re going to die. You’re stealing from us, the Mexicans, and today is your last day’.
“I said, ‘Why? I came here to work because I need the money’. He said, ‘No, you’re making too much money and you’re taking it to Paraguay. We are in need and working for you’. After that, he shot me.”
Cabanas’ would-be assassin was a notorious figure on the streets of Mexico City known as ‘JJ’ – Jose Jorge Balderas Garza.
JJ was allegedly connected to the feared hitman Edgar ‘Barbie’ Valdez Villarreal, who had just taken control of Los Negros – the armed wing of the Beltran-Leyva drug trafficking cartel.
Valdez, currently serving a 49-year sentence in the United States, admitted to sheltering Balderas in one of his hideouts after the attack.
The assailant himself was imprisoned in 2020 in Mexico on charges related to organised crime, yet he has never faced trial for the brutal attack on Cabanas.
The aftermath affected his memory, impaired his sight in his left eye, and weakened the left side of his body.
The timing could not have been worse for Cabanas, who had agreed a career-defining and life-changing move to Premier League giants United.
It also put an end to his chances of playing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa later that year, where he was expected to star.
Speaking to Telefuturo, Cabanas said: “I had signed a pre-contract agreement for £1.3 million for a transfer to Europe. They told me my destination would be Manchester United.
“Club America doubled my salary and gave me one apartment in Acapulco and another in Cancun to try to keep me at the club.”
He ultimately stayed put in South America and even made a remarkable comeback with his hometown club, Club 12 de Octubre, in 2012 before hanging up his boots two years later.
“Considering what had happened to me, and I came back – nobody would have imagined that,” said Cabanas.
His club achieved promotion to the Paraguayan second division, but Cabanas’ narrative, though inspiring, is far from an easy read.
Astonishingly, he returned to the pitch after everything, but life has been a challenging struggle since that fateful day in 2010.
Now separated from his wife, he finds solace working in his family’s bakery in Itaugua.
“After I got out of my Asuncion house following my separation, I came to live in my parents’ house and started helping them with the family business, which is the bakery,” he said.
“I am going to keep moving forward,” he added.
“I like the work; people recognise me and ask me about football. I have a lot of fun.”
Cabanas scored ten goals in 44 appearances for his beloved country, representing them at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Gifted with extraordinary power and finishing ability, he even finished as the top scorer in the Copa Libertadores a year later.