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Manchester United legend Gary Neville has revealed two signings who did not live upto their potential at the club.
Speaking on the 'Carragher and Neville Transfer Special' on Sky Sports, Neville revealed that Diego Forlan and Juan Sebastian Veron were two players who he thought would have much greater careers at Manchester United. However, the duo ended up having disappointing stints at the club. He said:
"One was Diego Forlan who went on to be an unbelievable striker in Spain but just didn't quite work for him. He did well towards the end, scored a few goals, but you knew he was going to be a prolific goalscorer somewhere with a certain type of football. He was athletic, he could finish, he was lively, he wasn't rapid quick but his movement was really good in and around the box but it just never quite clicked like it did in Spain."
Manchester United signed Forlan from Independiente in 2002, however the Uruguayan left the club in 2004 for Villarreal after making 97 appearances for the club across all competitions. The striker contributed 17 goals and eight assists during his time as a Red Devil.
He continued,
"The second is an unbelievable player in Juan Sebastian Veron. £28m was unheard of in terms of a player like that — you were bringing in a world class midfield player but the problem was that we already had the best midfield I have ever seen. Becks [David Beckham], [Paul] Scholes, [Roy] Keane and [Ryan] Giggs so you are breaking that up and he had to fit into that. He came in and he played on the left, played in the centre, played on the right, he played off the front and then Scholesey moved off the front and it didn't quite work."
Veron came to Old Trafford from Lazio in 2001 but the midfielder left the club for Chelsea after only two seasons in 2003. The Argentine managed 82 appearances across all competitions for the club, scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists during his tenure.
"That 1999 team it was like clockwork" - Neville on why Veron wasn't a success at Manchester United
Neville explained why he thought a player of Veron's calibre couldn't establish himself at Manchester United. He said:
"We were quite a formulated team, quite methodical in terms of how we played, everyone knew each other's movements and everyone knew each others positions. Particularly that 1999 team it was like clockwork. It just didn't quite suit even though he was a brilliant player, he wasn't a failure by any stretch of the imagination but he just didn't fit with the way we were playing. There was such excitement around that signing and he was a brilliant lad too."
