Veron was signed by Lazio’s Sir Alex Ferguson in 2001 for a record £ 28.1 million transfer fee to the Premier League, but after just two relatively disappointing seasons, he joined Chelsea.
Despite difficulties, United always succeeded during the period when Veron was at the club, the team having won the Premier League in its second season, and speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said that he thought that Veron had joined at a time when the United midfielder was arguably the best ever seen in the Premier League.
“He was an incredible player, Juan Sebastian Veron,” said Neville. “The reason it didn’t happen to him, in my opinion, was that we had the best midfielder I think English football has ever produced – and I think it will never produce. “
“I honestly think these four players (David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs) are four of the best players in Manchester United. “
“You have the two best looking manufacturers in this midfield, you have a global megastar and an incredible player in David Beckham and you have Roy Keane who is the most inspiring football player I have ever seen.
Neville said he sees similarities between the way Veron played and the way the new United star Bruno Fernandes approaches the game, but thinks that Veron was suffering from the rigidity of the privileged 4-4-2 system. United at the time.
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He continued: “The way Seba played, he comes from Italy, and that is the way many midfielder players currently play, like Bruno Fernandes who comes to Manchester United.
“He reminds me so much of Veron. But the game has evolved to the point where players can move in different positions, there is much more fluidity in the systems, the 4-4-2 no longer exists.
“I think Veron came in with an interchangeable position mindset and a different mindset, in a team that had been defined in the diagrams. So for me, that’s why it didn’t quite happen. It had nothing to do with him as a player or as an individual. He was a brilliant player. ”
