“I’LL NEVER REGRET JOINING MANCHESTER UNITED I WISH I’D STAYED THERE LONGER”
Looking over and seeing Juan Sebastian Veron lining up was a frightful sight for opponents. A cultured, 6ft 1in assassin with a goatee, the Argentine midfielder liked to wear his socks low as he prepared for war. Despite his revered style, he wasn’t afraid to scrap if the going got tough.
Today, Veron has decided to present himself even more menacingly for his catch-up with FourFourTwo. Studying his black leather jacket and Peaky Blinders-style flat cap, we’re just thankful there’s no razor blade nearby as the genial 45-year-old chats with us from the other side of the Atlantic. He has been Estudiantes club president since can run a , over the past few months the election has been pushed back due to coronavirus.
Before he took office, La Brujita (‘The Little Witch’) captained his boyhood club to Copa Libertadores glory in 2009, following in the footsteps of his father, Juan Ramon Veron, who helped to add three consecutive South American cups to Estudiantes’ cabinet from 1968 to 1970. More than 30 years before his son became the most expensive transfer in English football history, when Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United handed Lazio £28 million in 2001, Juan Ramon already had his own small place in Red Devils history. In 1968, the forward scored in the 1-1 draw that made Estudiantes Intercontinental Cup champions at Old Trafford, after a 1-0 first-leg win over Sir Matt Busby’s men in Buenos Aires.
Sadly, life wasn’t so rosy in Manchester – or London – for Veron Jr, who had thrived in Serie A with his defence-splitting abilities and eye for the spectacular. His talent didn’t translate into Premier League dominance, but nor did that come to define his career. With 73 Argentina caps, including outings at three World Cups, on top of major silverware at home and in Europe with a trio of Italian clubs, Veron’s successes outside of England speak for themselves.
But let’s hear Veron himself tell the story...
You were called ‘The Little Witch’ because your dad was ‘The Witch’, or La Bruja – so where did his
