‘I left Man Utd to join Chelsea but it ended up becoming my biggest career regret’

Juan Sebastian Veron expressed regret over his decision to leave Manchester United for Chelsea, attributing his Stamford Bridge struggles to injury issues. Veron is one of the few players to have made the switch from one major Premier League title contender to another, joining the likes of Carlos Tevez, who infamously moved from Manchester United to Manchester City.

In 2003, Veron made the move from Old Trafford to Stamford Bridge after spending just two years at United. Initially signed by United for a then-British transfer record fee of £28.1million, Veron scored 11 goals in 82 appearances and won one Premier League title during his time at the club.

After signing Veron, Sir Alex Ferguson said: “I never thought I’d spend this much money on a footballer. I think he’s coming into great years of his career and he will peak and we’ll get the benefit of that. He is a world-class, fantastic footballer with a vision of a game we can use.”

However, Veron’s time at United was cut short, and he became one of Roman Abramovich’s first signings as Chelsea’s owner, leaving United for £15m and resulting in a £13m loss for the club.

Reflecting on his time with Blues, who travel to face the Red Devils today (November 3), in 2019, the ex-midfielder said: “At Chelsea, the reality is that I had very little time. I had a major back injury and I was out for practically six months. I was already thinking more about going back to Italy than staying there in England.”

The move to Chelsea turned sour for Veron, with the star hardly seeing action at Stamford Bridge, clocking up a mere 14 appearances and scoring just once. He had subsequent loan spells at Inter Milan and Club Estudiantes de La Plata before taking a one-year hiatus from football and retiring at La Plata in 2017.

The former Chelsea midfielder admitted he feels he should’ve never moved to Stamford Bridge in 2003, claiming that nobody at United forced the star out of the club.

Veron said: “With United, the truth is that there are few things, very few, that I regret. But one is to have left Manchester. They never pushed me or told me ‘you have to go’, but they gave me the chance, the possibility.

“I had talks with my former colleagues at that time telling me that I had to stay. And at one moment I decided to leave because I wanted to play, because I didn’t know… I should have stayed.”