Sir Alex Ferguson rarely had a transfer howler at Manchester United, especially during his first decade and a half which was littered with success.
Of course, there were the odd one or two players that were signed that couldn’t live up to expectations and flopped massively, including the likes of Jordi Cruyff, Massimo Taibi and William Prunier.
In the summer of 2001, Fergie made arguably his most expensive mistake at United by signing Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio for a then British record transfer fee of £28.1m and Fergie praised the midfielder upon his arrival, saying: "What we have done is bring in a really top player, one of the best players in the world. He is world-class – a fantastic footballer.”
Unfortunately, he would never live up to the fee and go down as one of Fergie’s worst signings in terms of impact on the pitch.
How did Juan Sebastian Veron perform at Manchester United?
The Argentinian midfielder was one of the finest players in his position on the continent, impressing during a stint in Serie A with Parma and Lazio, winning a league title, UEFA Cup and two Coppa Italia’s and having also represented Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, he was looked upon to take United to the next level.
He scored five times and grabbed six assists during his first campaign, however, United ended the season trophyless for the first time since 1998, losing the Premier League title to Arsenal.
His second term saw his goal contributions increase from 11 to 14 and Fergie led the Red Devils to another league title, but Veron couldn’t quite settle in Manchester and rarely displayed the form that led to the club signing him in the first place.
His regular midfield partner, Paul Scholes, claimed that he and Veron couldn’t play together, saying: "Yeah, me and Veron were a disaster.” And it was evident that the 72-cap international simply couldn’t cut it in the Premier League.
Despite winning the title in 2002/2003, United could perhaps have hit greater heights had Veron brought his Serie A form to the club and the 11 goals he scored across two seasons cost the Old Trafford side £2.5m per strike, a colossal amount to waste.
Veron was soon offloaded to Chelsea in 2003 before he enjoyed somewhat of a career resurgence at Inter Milan and Estudiantes, winning numerous trophies and even playing at the 2010 World Cup.
There is no doubt he was a sensational player, but he couldn’t quite get used to the rigours of English football.
