"Right, be quick. I've only got a few minutes."
Sir Alex Ferguson didn't have much time for paper talk two days before Manchester United 's seismic clash with Arsenal in their penultimate game of the 2001-02 Premier League season.
The Red Devils had surprisingly crashed out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage to Bayer Leverkusen the week prior and needed to beat Arsene Wenger 's side to take the title race down to the final day. It'd been a frustrating campaign for Ferguson's men, who'd been tipped to begin a new era of European dominance after splashing out a club-record £28.1million to sign Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio.
With Glasgow's Hampden Park playing host to the 2002 Champions League final, it seemed destined that Govan lad Ferguson would lead United to glory in his home city and win a second European crown. Unfortunately, Bayer Leverkusen had other ideas, just like Arsenal did when it came to the Red Devils' quest for a fourth successive Premier League title.
Veron was at the epicentre of that failure, as despite winning Player of the Month in September 2001 thanks a fast start to life at Old Trafford, he struggled to adapt to the hustle and bustle of English football. Instead, the Argentine midfielder excelled for United in the Champions League thanks to its slower tempo, and he was key to United's run to the last four.
Ferguson, a master of evolving his squad each season, was attempting to alter his style of play in order to accommodate Veron, breaking up the tried and trusted midfield partnership of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes - a decision which garnered criticism throughout campaign. So, after months of defending him in the media, May 6 was the day the legendary Scot lost his temper completely during a brief but infamous press conference ahead of Wenger and co's visit to Old Trafford.
It started off like a regular chat between newspaper journalists, as back in the day, they were allowed a separate briefing from the Red Devils boss when the TV cameras and radio microphones were off. But once Veron came into conversation, the room ignited and one tape recorder, belonging to the Telegraph's Sam Wallace, captured the foul-mouthed outburst in sketchy early noughties audio form.
It was Ferguson who brought Veron's name up in a back-and-forth - and relatively muted - exchange with a reporter. "What about the accusations that he had a bust-up and he's gone home and he’s not going to play again?" The reporter pressed on, having just been called a "disgrace to journalism" after quizzing Ferguson on his comments regarding Arsenal's alleged "arrogance."
"That was answered with Paddy Harverson [United's ex-director of communications]," Ferguson fumed before storming out. "It's absolute nonsense! Absolute nonsense! You know it's nonsense! Absolute lies! I don't believe that you write these things. Anyway that's a-finish, on you go. Get going. On you go! We're no f------ talking! [Veron] is a f------ great player! Youse are f------ idiots!"
Despite his impassioned defence of the Argentina international, Ferguson would let him go to Chelsea a mere 14 months later as part of Roman Abramovich's first summer flooding money into the Stamford Bridge coffers. The Red Devils had even reclaimed the title from Arsenal in 2003, although Veron managed just two goals that Premier League term - three less than his maiden campaign in the English top flight.
The Blues swiped the playmaker for less than half of what United paid for him, but going down south didn't improve Veron's fortunes. A combination of constant injuries and a lack of consistent good form, the same issues which plagued his time at Old Trafford, meant that the Estudiantes academy product spent the last three of his four years contracted to Chelsea out on loan - and he regrets ever going there.
In a 2016 interview the Manchester Evening News, Veron opened up on his topsy-turvy time in England. "I feel I started well in the league games," he declared. "The pre-season preparation was very different to Italy, where we’d do all the running pre-season. In England, there was running every day.
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"I liked the atmosphere in training and the lads were great, people like Ryan Giggs was kind to me. But I found the football hard to adjust to and there were so many games throughout the year. Games were intense for 90 minutes. In Italy, it was more tactical and about closing down the games. In England, the games were more open, the ball came back and forward. It was more physical too.
Asked about the belief that he saved his best performances for European matches, he admitted: "I don't know how to explain that. "If I had one frustration it was that I had highs and lows every season. I was never at a high level throughout the whole season. But I should have stayed at United and not left."
Undoubtedly a world-class player but only in the right environment, both Chelsea and United fans will read Veron's name to this day and no-doubt lament to themselves, 'What could've been?'
