It seemed absurd at the time and still does now, two decades later. Argentina superstar Claudio Caniggia signing for Dundee in the Scottish top flight.
But if Ivano Bonetti - the man who masterminded that transfer coup - had got his way, Caniggia would have been partnering Diego Forlan up front in dark blue, with Esteban Cambiasso pulling the strings in midfield.
After all, why settle for one outrageously talented South American? Speculate to accumulate was Bonetti's grand plan, a risky strategy that turned Dundee into an enclave of Argentina but didn't end well.
"There were many players I tried to bring to Dundee," the 56-year-old Italian tells BBC Scotland as his former club prepare to make their top-flight return.
"Forlan would have cost around $1.5m. After seven months he went from Argentina to Man United for £6.8m, so there were a few situations but we didn't have the finances to do it.
"Cambiasso too, he was just 20 years old, he was around $1m, but that was nothing. There was some situation we could have found and brought players to buy and sell very fast, but we did what we could.
"Another player I saw when I was looking in Argentina was Maxi Lopez. He was 16 and playing for Independiente. He was free, and a fantastic talent, but I wasn't able to bring him. He played in Italy for a few clubs in Serie A."
Despite the notable ones who got away, other foreign imports flooded in, including Argentine strikers Juan Sara and Fabian Caballero, Georgia internationals Temuri Ketsbaia and Georgi Nemsadze, and 106-cap China defender Fan Zhiyi.
Caniggia, though, was the capture that defined the era of Dens Park extravagance. It was a deal that worked out for both parties. Dundee got a striker of global repute, who delivered eight goals in 25 games during his sole season, before selling him on to Rangers.
The striker, 33 years old when he pitched up at Dens Park, revived his flagging career to the extent he earned an Argentina recall in time for the 2002 World Cup.
"Caniggia cost nothing to buy - obviously he can earn a big salary - but as soon as he came we sold a lot of shirts," says Bonetti. "We signed him for three years because we knew we could sell him to Rangers.
"I remember some newspapers wrote when I signed Caniggia that he was finished, bad things about why he was coming here. Claudio was in Serie A with Atalanta but he wasn't playing.
"We convinced him to come to the UK because we showed him that he could have another opportunity to extend his career.
"As soon as he made his first appearance, everyone saw the kind of player Dundee had brought in ... it was a beautiful, fantastic time for everyone there."
'It was good business'
Bonetti claims other lucrative sales were in the offing. Celtic, apparently, were sniffing around Caballero but "Dundee said £7m not a penny less, Martin O'Neill later told me he was ready to offer £3m".
And with very few Dundee players moved on for a substantial profit, Bonetti's business model malfunctioned.
And so, the rollercoaster two-year reign of the Italian - with brother Dario his assistant - came to a shuddering halt in summer 2002. Sixteen months later Dundee were put into administration with reported debts of £20m.
But Bonetti bristles at the suggestion the wages paid to players during his time in charge contributed to the club's financial downfall.
"No, no, because Robert Douglas sold for money, Caniggia for money, Zurab Khizanishvili for money, Gavin Rae for money, and we didn't spend one penny for them," he says. "If you put all of that together it was good business. I lost money too, big money."
The former Sampdoria and Juventus midfielder departed having led Dundee to sixth and ninth-place finishes. Had he been kept on, he insists the club would have been jostling for European places.
"The first season was fantastic, the second year we had some problems because of injuries," says Bonetti, now head of youth at Rimini FC in his homeland.
"But we were on the way, after that we were ready to fight for fourth place, I was sure of it. The only disappointment for me was I didn't have the chance to finish the job."