Veron set to go to Chelsea

Manchester United’s anxious fans should learn over the next week whether the collapse of Ronaldinho’s £20m (€28m) move to Old Trafford will have greater consequences than was first realised.

When the Brazilian World Cup winner turned his back on a move to United just as his prospective purchasers were setting off on their ground-breaking tour of the United States, it was dismissed as nothing more than a disappointing twist to a summer of transfer sagas.