Veron keen to stay at United

Juan Sebastian Veron has insisted that he wants to stay and fight for his place at Manchester United.

The 28-year-old midfielder has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford with Chelsea reportedly interested in acquiring the Argentina international.

Veron, who joined United from Lazio for £28.1m (€39.4m) two years ago, has struggled to make an impact with the Premiership champions but the player remains keen to prove himself.

He said: “It has never been my intention to leave Manchester United. I want to stay and I have made my intentions clear. But I do not know what the club want to do.”

Veron, who featured as a second-half substitute in yesterday’s 4-0 friendly win over Celtic in Seattle, could face increased competition in midfield from incoming Brazilian Kleberson.

United recently missed out on Brazilian Ronaldinho, who has joined Barcelona, and have since been linked with Newcastle’s Kieron Dyer but manager Alex Ferguson says he is in no rush to buy.

“There are two or three players we could be interested in, but we’re just going to draw breath and analyse the situation,” Ferguson said. “We want to take our time.”