La Brujita. The Little Witch. Magic, you see.
Juan Sebastián Verón. La Brujita, they called him. The Little Witch. Magic, you see.
Verón cast a spell wherever he went, his brilliance scattered everywhere - Parma, Lazio, Manchester, London, La Plata. In each, he made you certain you were watching not just the best midfielder in the world but someone more than that, someone touching genuine greatness. He left you wanting more every time you watched. His spells with Parma and Lazio set everyone’s pulse racing. He made a brutal, conservative league look spectacular at a whim. A player of contradictions. Always limping, bandaged knee - with the best engine on the pitch. Languid, flicks and tricks - with a shot that could break the net. Veron had every club in the bag. Stamina, skill, a blistering striker of the ball - he was seemingly made for the Premier League. And that’s not mentioning his breathtaking passing range.
At United, he sparked not just wonder but dread in his teammates. Nicky Butt put it best: “He played and I sat there and I thought: ‘I’ll never play for United again, that’s me done, I’ll have to get a move.’ Verón was the best player I’ve ever seen, except Cantona. In training he was like something I’d never seen.”
His spell in English football is what makes Verón a wistful case, though. Everyone at Old Trafford raved about him, yet Verón struggled to prove it on the pitch. He called it the biggest regret of his career that he left too soon for Chelsea and didn’t persist. Most United fans lament his exit too, convinced that he was the most gifted player at the club.
Ferguson later recalled: “Verón was a superb footballer with immense stamina but we couldn’t find a position for him. He just hunted the ball. He was an individual. He just played everywhere, went wherever he liked. If I managed him for a hundred years I wouldn’t know where to play him. He was the wild card. A free bird, flying everywhere. Talent-wise there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. He had two fine feet, he could run, his control was magnificent, his vision - brilliant. He just couldn’t fit into the team. The English game was no barrier to him. He was brave. He had the balls to play.”
It’s impossible to look at Verón and not think he left something on the table, such was his talent. He won league titles in Italy with Parma and Lazio, in the Premier League with United, and twice with his boyhood club, Estudiantes. The Champions League and international honours remained, frustratingly, just out of reach. But trophy talk can often reduce players to numbers, and we don’t like to do that. However, trophies are also a way you can judge Juan Sebastián Verón if you want to go down that route.
At 34, having turned down more lucrative offers from Boca and River Plate, he was settled back at his beloved Estudiantes and coasting into retirement before one last dance. Verón stated before the Copa Libertadores final: "I would trade everything I've won for this title." Given his father’s connection with the trophy, it was clear he meant it. Verón added two trophies to his collection after those words — one Copa Libertadores title and one for Player of the Tournament. The Little Witch, with his dodgy knees, continued to cast his spell.
Juan Sebastián Verón. One of one.
.jpg)
We also think you'll like...