'I never should have left Man Utd to join Chelsea - I still regret it'

Juan Sebastian Veron admits his serious regrets over switching from Manchester United to Chelsea, blaming injuries as his main problem at Stamford Bridge. Numerous footballers have moved from one club to another within the same league, but few have managed such transfers in the Premier League, given the enormous backlash they would encounter.

A recent case would be Alejandro Garnacho, who abandoned his declining role at United to join the Blues this summer. Whilst it appears the Argentinian winger is content with his controversial switch thus far, Veron serves as a prime example of the age-old quote that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

The midfielder moved to Stamford Bridge in 2003 following merely two seasons at Old Trafford - where the teams will clash later today (September 20). The now-50-year-old arrived at the Premier League powerhouse for a British transfer record fee of £28.1million in 2001, scoring 11 goals across 82 matches and claiming one league title.

Discussing the signing of Veron at the time, 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 departed Manchester after a mere 24 months and became one of Roman Abramovich's initial signings as Chelsea's owner. The Blues signed him for £15m, resulting in Ferguson suffering a loss of roughly £13m from their original transfer.

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Despite the seemingly sunny prospects in west London, Veron confesses that the move was one of his greatest regrets. Speaking in 2019, the Argentine 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."

With only 14 appearances and a single goal to his name, Veron was loaned out to Inter Milan and Club Estudiantes de La Plata before taking a year-long career break. He remained at La Plata following this brief hiatus until his retirement in 2017.

Reflecting on his regret over leaving United, Veron added: "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."

Now, another Argentinian has followed in Veron's footsteps in swapping red for blue, but Garnacho will be hoping that he will have more luck as a Chelsea player than the ex-midfielder.

The former Red Devil is set to face his old club on Saturday evening in the Premier League, with a 5:45pm kick-off at Old Trafford.

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