Manchester United fans have seen plenty of questionable signings over the years but Paul Scholes has defended one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s additions.
Cast your minds back to the late 1990’s and early 2000’s – a much more enjoyable time to be a Manchester United supporter.
United backed up the famous treble-winning 1998-99 season by winning another Premier League title.
Sir Alex Ferguson was quiet in the transfer market back in 2000 but still won the Premier League title once again before deciding to splash the cash.
2001 saw now-United coach Ruud van Nistelrooy finally complete a move from PSV Eindhoven and ultimately become an Old Trafford hero.
Van Nistelrooy was not the biggest signing of that window though as United invested in a Serie A superstar.
Paul Scholes comments on Juan Sebastian Veron
United splashed out around £28million to sign midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, as noted by The Guardian.
That deal broke the British transfer record with United convinced that Veron could be a game-changing addition to Ferguson’s midfield ranks.
The four-man midfield of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs immediately springs to mind from that area but Ferguson wanted to add some stardust in Veron.
The Argentinian had dazzled in Italy with Sampdoria, Parma and Lazio before United snapped him up.
Veron started well and even won the Premier League Player of the Month award for September 2001.
The Argentinian – a skilful number 10 in Italy – often played deeper for United with Paul Scholes moving further forward.
Scholes himself has now commented on Veron and defended him in the discussions of United’s worst-ever signing.
Speaking on The Overlap, Scholes suggested that Veron was a ‘great player’ and still isn’t sure just why his time at United didn’t reach its full potential.
Scholes added that Veron was ‘brilliant’ in European games, arguably playing his best football in the Champions League rather than the Premier League.
“Veron was a great player, a talented player,” said Scholes. “I don’t really know why it just didn’t work for him but what a footballer. In Europe he was brilliant,” he added.
What else has been said about Veron at Manchester United?
Veron ended up spending just two years at Old Trafford before joining the Roman Abramovich revolution at Chelsea.
United took a hefty loss on Veron, which is why he ends up in these ‘worst signing’ discussions despite his obvious quality.
Former teammates often speak highly of Veron though with Wes Brown praising him as ‘unbelievable’ earlier in 2024.
“One of the best players I’ve ever seen in my life, it just didn’t work out,” Brown said, “Unbelievable footballer. It didn’t quite work out consistently.
“He’d have a good game here and there, it just didn’t work. Sometimes whether it’s the team, or the shape or it doesn’t work for that particular player.
“He was unbelievable. I don’t think at any point, any of the players who played with him thought ‘he’s not good enough’, and he’d show it in spells in games, you’d see it, it just wasn’t consistent,” he added.
Scholes himself noted that he and Veron just couldn’t play together in midfield as they were ‘too similar’ in style.
Veron’s time at United will always feel like a ‘what could have been’; the talent was there, some performances were just what United expected but he couldn’t find consistency in the Premier League and left after just two years.
The move to Chelsea certainly didn’t work out for Veron but he remains a favourite in Argentina and even in Italy after a lengthy playing career.
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