Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton have paid tribute to Alfredo Di Stéfano, probably the greatest player in Real Madrid’s history, who died on Monday at the age of 88.

Ferguson described Di Stéfano as one of the greatest players of all time. “The great question that always comes up is who are the greatest players,” the former Manchester United manager told Sky Sports News. “There is a list of great ones like Cruyff, Maradona and Pelé and of course Puskas and Di Stéfano – I thought he was one of the greatest in my mind.

“He had a fantastic balance and poise. If you look at one of the goals he scored in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt it was completely what we are saying about the balance and poise, unbelievable he was.

“I was very sad to hear the news. Even at 88 it is a bit of a shock. I saw him two years ago before our Real Madrid game and he looked fine and looked full of health so it is disappointing to hear the news.”

Charlton praised the footballing brain of Di Stéfano. “I was deeply saddened to hear the news of Alfredo Di Stéfano’s passing,” England’s record goalscorer said. “As one of the stars of the legendary Real Madrid team, I think Alfredo was one of the best players I ever came across and an extremely intelligent footballer.

“He was somebody I really respected, having watched him from the stands at the Bernabéu and then played against him. I have many fond memories of my time with Alfredo and feel privileged to be able to call him a good friend. The footballing world has lost a great player and a great man.

“I’d like to send my condolences on behalf of everybody at Manchester United to his family and our friends at Real Madrid.”

The Spanish football federation called Di Stéfano an “unforgettable player” in the country’s football history. “He was truly one of a kind on the pitch as well as off it, for his way of understanding life and the wisdom that he generously spread wherever he went,” it said.

Sepp Blatter described Di Stéfano as one of the greatest players to grace a pitch. The Fifa’s president tweeted: “Sad to learn of Di Stéfano’s passing, the most complete player I’ve seen. My favourite player. A legend is gone. RIP.”

Real said in a statement: “The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, and the club board would like to express its deepest condolences and all their love and affection to their children, their families and friends. Real Madrid extends condolences to those Madridistas around the world and those who feel emotion at the loss of the best player of all time.”

The former Argentina, Colombia and Spain international suffered a cardiac arrest in the street near Real’s Bernabéu stadium on Saturday – the day after his birthday – and had been in an induced coma in intensive care. Di Stéfano was attended to by emergency medical services before being transferred to hospital. The cardiac arrest lasted 18 minutes, according to the emergency services.

Di Stéfano has had several health scares in recent years and underwent a quadruple aorta-coronary bypass with a pacemaker implanted in December 2005 after suffering a myocardial infarction. After joining Real in 1953, he helped turn them into one of the world’s leading sides, winning five straight European Cups and scoring in each final between 1956 and 1960.

The Argentina-born forward also won eight Spanish league titles and was voted the European player of the year in 1957 and 1959. He left Real in 1964 at the age of 38 having scored more than 300 goals across 11 seasons. Di Stéfano played at international level for three countries but never appeared at the World Cup.

He won six caps for Argentina and played four times for Colombia during a spell in that country’s league. However, his Colombia caps are not recognised by Fifa. Fifa said in 1954 he could not play for Spain but reversed that decision in 1957 after he gained citizenship and he went on to win 31 caps, scoring 23 goals.

• Archive: Marcela Mora y Araujo interviews Alfredo Di Stéfano in 2008