Former Chelsea defender Robert Huth is of the view that Juan Sebastian Veron failed to adapt to the physicality and pace of the Premier League.
Veron was considered one of the most talented midfielders of his generation and inspired Lazio to a Serie A title in the early 2000s.
But he is remembered in England for being a transfer flop and failed to make his mark at two of the Premier League’s biggest clubs in the shape of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Veron was Manchester United’s club-record signing in 2001, but two years later he was shipped off to Chelsea for little more than half the price they paid for him.
However, at Chelsea, he struggled again and made just 14 appearances before leaving the club permanently in the summer of 2006.
Huth admitted that he understands the reasons behind Claudio Ranieri’s decision to sign Veron, but feels the Argentine struggled to cope with the challenge of a changing Chelsea with a more physical style.
The former defender believes that Veron did not adapt to the pace of the Premier League and it showed the number of games he played for Chelsea.
“I know it hadn’t quite worked out for him at Manchester United and there was disappointment about how he had done up there, but he played a lot more games for them than he ended up playing for us”, Huth told The Athletic.
“Claudio bought him remembering how well he had done in Italy. It was his idea to have him dictating everything from the middle for us, like he had in Serie A.
“But the league in England had changed.
"Our style had probably changed, too. It had become a lot more physical, a lot faster, and his game was all about control, collecting the ball deeper and spreading it from there. It was too chaotic for him, even in training.
“We had ridiculous athletes in our team who wanted to take players on; all pace and power.
“That went up another level when [Jose] Mourinho arrived the following summer.
"It was all about the physicality, so Veron was never going to fit in.
“He was made for that slower pace of Italian football where he could look classy and not have people trampling all over him.”
Veron retired from the game after one last spell at his boyhood club Estudiantes.
