Ferguson: Veron's going nowhere

Alex Ferguson has insisted Juan Sebastian Veron will stay with Manchester United and face Juventus at the Giants Stadium tomorrow night.

Ferguson claimed to know nothing of speculation suggesting a £15m (€21.35m) fee had been agreed with Chelsea for the Argentinian midfielder.

Instead, Ferguson suggested the player’s agent was acting without authority and repeated his assertion that Veron would still be at the club when United begin the defence of their Premiership title against Bolton on August 16.

However, one man who definitely will not be facing the Trotters is Gary Neville, who will fly home from United’s United States tour for treatment on a strained hamstring which will rule him out for three weeks.

Neville’s absence, which also rules him out of England’s friendly with Croatia, leaves Ferguson with a defensive headache as Wes Brown is out until Christmas with ruptured cruciate ligaments and both Laurent Blanc and David May left this summer.

However, of more immediate concern to the United boss is the speculation surrounding Veron’s future.

Having been told the 28-year-old would be surplus to requirements once the signing of Ronaldinho materialised, it seems the player’s advisors are still pursuing a deal even though the Brazilian eventually snubbed United and opted to join Barcelona.

“Seba is a terrific player and I want him to stay,” said Ferguson.

“I don’t know anything about the speculation. Agents talk to a lot of people, they have a lot of power and sometimes they can think different things to the player.

“But Seba is a mature man. He is very experienced and he knows what he wants.

“If there was a situation arising I’m sure he would talk to me. He hasn’t done so and I’m quite happy about that.

“My impression was that he had settled down, everything had gone quiet and there was no problem.

“Seba is a marvellous player and he is contracted to us. It is going to be difficult for a deal to be done tomorrow. He will be playing for us.”

Ferguson’s worst fears over Neville were confirmed when a scan revealed the damage he sustained to his hamstring during the 4-0 win over Celtic in Seattle last week was actually a strain, which will require treatment at United’s Carrington training base.

It stretches the Red Devils’ defensive resources to the limit, with Neville’s brother Phil now likely to be asked to step into the right-back slot for the opening two games of the Premiership campaign.

However, with Mikael Silvestre only returning to training today after his Confederations Cup commitments with France, it could mean an opportunity for either Mark Lynch or Danny Pugh in the left-back position against Juventus.

Despite the Neville injury and the question mark which remains over Veron’s future, Ferguson insisted he is happy with the strength of his squad and has no immediate plans to enter the transfer market.

“It has gone quiet on the transfer front, purposefully on our part,” said Ferguson, who said he anticipated no problems with Brazilian import Klebersen’s work permit application on August 11.

“I don’t think there is any need for us to act at the moment.

“We have until August 31 for the Champions League deadline and I have withdrawn all my interest at the moment to let things settle.

“The players here are doing great and I feel comfortable with what we have got.”