I never should have left Man Utd to join Chelsea - it's my only regret

Alejandro Garnacho looks all-set to follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman - Juan Sebastian Veron - and swap Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge in search of more game-time. The 21-year-old winger has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea this summer as Enzo Maresca looks to strengthen his front-line.

football.london understands that the Blues have reached an agreement with Manchester United for the transfer of Garnacho. Chelsea tried to secure the Argentina international's signature in January, but their attempts were rebuffed by the Red Devils at that stage.

Then, at the end last season, Ruben Amorim told Garnacho that he could leave, and the forward quickly set his sights on a move to west London. The Blues reignited their interest in the Argentine, who's now set to sign a seven-year contract, with United accepting a £40m fixed-fee offer.

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It's understood that the Red Devils have also included a 10 per cent sell-on clause in the deal. Garnacho will be hoping he's more fortunate than Veron, whose spell at Chelsea was plagued with injuries.

The 50-year-old has since admitted he regrets leaving United to join the Blues. Few Premier League stars have made the controversial leap from one major title contender to another, with Carlos Tevez's notorious cross-city move to Manchester City being a rare example.

Veron joined this exclusive group when he left the Red Devils for Chelsea in 2003 following just two seasons at Old Trafford. The former midfielder, who commanded a British-record transfer fee of £28.1m when he joined United from Lazio in 2001, featured 82 times for United across all competitions, scoring 11 goals and providing 16 assists.

Following his move, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "I never thought I'd spend this much money on a footballer.

"I think he's coming into great years of his career, and he will peak, and we'll get the benefit of that. He's a world-class, fantastic footballer with a vision of a game we can use."

Nevertheless, Veron endured 24 months under Ferguson's stewardship before becoming one of Roman Abramovich's inaugural acquisitions as Chelsea's owner. He left United for £15m, resulting in the club suffering a loss of approximately £13m on their initial investment.

When reflecting on his stint at Stamford Bridge in 2019, Veron said: "At Chelsea, the reality is that I had very little time. I had a major back injury, and I was out for practically six months. I was already thinking more about going back to Italy than staying there in England."

The move to Chelsea proved to be one he'd rather forget, as he struggled for playing time at the Bridge, managing just 14 appearances, and finding the net only once. Veron was loaned out to Inter Milan and Club Estudiantes de La Plata before taking a sabbatical for a year and remaining at La Plata until hanging up his boots in 2017.

Discussing his remorse over the Chelsea transfer, Veron admitted: "With United, the truth is that there are few things, very few, that I regret. But one is to have left Manchester. They never pushed me or told me; 'You have to go', but they gave me the chance, the possibility.

"I had talks with my former colleagues at that time telling me that I had to stay. And at one moment I decided to leave because I wanted to play, because I didn't know... I should have stayed."