I was told to stay at Man Utd and snub Chelsea transfer - I should have listened

Juan Sebastian Veron has admitted his biggest regret is swapping Manchester United for Chelsea, blaming injuries as his primary concern at Stamford Bridge. Numerous footballers have made transfers between clubs within the same division, yet few have managed such moves in the Premier League owing to the enormous criticism they would encounter.

A recent example would be Alejandro Garnacho, who abandoned his diminishing role at United to join the Blues this summer. Whilst it appears the Argentinian winger remains content with his controversial switch thus far, Veron serves as an ideal demonstration of the age-old quote that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. The midfielder departed for Stamford Bridge in 2003 after just 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 sum of £28.1million in 2001, scoring 11 goals across 82 appearances and winning one top-flight 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. He was signed by the Blues for £15m, resulting in Ferguson suffering a loss of approximately £13m from their original transfer.

Despite the seemingly bright 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 confessed: "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 by trading red for blue, but Garnacho will be hoping his stint as a Chelsea player proves more successful.

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