Derby County’s £2.5m man had a forged passport but the Rams still laughed | OneFootball

Esteban Fuertes had a short but dramatic spell with the Rams

Derby County have had their fair share of memorable transfer stories over the years, but few can rival the bizarre saga of Esteban Fuertes.

The Argentine striker arrived at Pride Park in 1999 as part of Jim Smith’s attempts to keep the Rams competitive in the Premier League.

Derby had spent around £2.3 million on Fuertes after a lengthy transfer saga, with the striker viewed as an important solution to the club’s shortage of goals.

He initially looked worth the wait, scoring the winner against Everton on his home debut.

However, within months, Derby discovered that they had a rather more serious problem.

Derby County’s strange Esteban Fuertes transfer

Derby had taken around three months to complete Fuertes’ move from Argentine football, with the striker arriving from Colon de Santa Fe.

There were complications from the beginning. Fuertes’ playing rights were reportedly split between two clubs and a management company, leaving Derby attempting to negotiate their way through a complicated ownership arrangement.

His Italian passport was another crucial part of the deal. Fuertes was of Italian descent through his grandparents, and the passport meant he would not require a work permit to play in England.

For Derby, that appeared to remove another potential obstacle.

Fuertes eventually made his debut away at Sheffield Wednesday before opening his Pride Park account against Everton in August 1999.

He also scored against Swansea City in the League Cup, giving supporters reason to believe that Smith had unearthed an effective South American striker.

But behind the scenes, the transfer remained shrouded in uncertainty.

Esteban Fuertes was refused entry into Britain

The extraordinary twist came in November 1999, when Fuertes travelled with his Rams teammates to Portugal for a training camp.

On the return journey, however, the striker was refused entry into Britain at Heathrow Airport. Immigration officials had discovered that the Italian passport Fuertes had been using was forged, or had been tampered with.

Fuertes was sent back to Argentina, and his Derby career effectively ended there.

The circumstances left Derby facing obvious questions over how the player had been signed in the first place.

Contemporary accounts suggested the club had believed his Italian passport removed the need for a work permit, only for the Home Office to establish that the document was fraudulent.

Jim Smith later even raised the possibility of a conspiracy, although no legal proceedings followed and Fuertes maintained his innocence.

Derby

Derby County somehow made a profit after Fuertes disaster

Remarkably, the Fuertes story did not end with Derby suffering a huge financial loss.

Back in Argentina, the striker rediscovered his form in spectacular fashion. He scored 12 goals in 11 games during one spell with Colon, subsequently establishing himself as one of the country's most prolific forwards.

That form helped Derby find a buyer, with French club Lens eventually paying around £2.8 million for Fuertes.

Incredibly, the Rams therefore managed to recoup their original investment and reportedly make around £500,000 profit on a player who had not appeared for them since being detained at Heathrow.

Fuertes went on to enjoy a successful career, becoming an iconic figure at Colon and eventually earning an Argentina debut at the age of 36 under Diego Maradona.

For Derby, though, his brief spell remains one of the strangest transfers in the club's history: a £2.3 million striker, a forged passport, an airport detention and, somehow, a profit.