Veron the £28m spark to ignite United's ambitions

Sir Alex Ferguson, who began the close season complaining of a lack of funds and ambition at Old Trafford, yesterday broke the British transfer record for the second time in three months with a signing potentially as influential as that of Roy Keane or Eric Cantona.

Juan Sebastian Veron's arrival from Lazio for £28.1m was, said the Manchester United manager, the clearest indication that he would not allow the club to be cast adrift by Real Madrid, who have spent £85m on Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane in the last year and were yesterday reported to be preparing a £60m bid for the Italian defender, Alessandro Nesta. Ferguson called the transfer market "ridiculous" while adding that he was prepared to compete in it. The sum of £28.1m is almost £5m more than earlier indications, although United denied that a late bid by Internazionale had forced up the price.

Pointedly praising United's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, with whom he enjoys a warmer relationship than he does with the chairman, Martin Edwards, Ferguson said: "I have always maintained there must be one player who can make a difference. We have had instances of that with Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Fabien Barthez. My dream has always been to make Manchester United the best.

"Peter Kenyon's determination has made this possible. The signing of Juan Sebastian is the sort of thing Manchester United should be doing. From time to time you have to make a major signing, like Juan Sebastian and Ruud van Nistelrooy, that can lift a club.

"Fabien Barthez was one of the best signings the club has ever made; he came here with all these medals and proved he was a bigger winner than anyone in the dressing-room. You can't take that attitude away from someone; they are born with it and that is true of Juan Sebastian."

Veron, who at 26 is one of the few to swap Serie A for the Premiership while in their prime, would, he said, act as a similar catalyst, just as spending £27m on Stam and Dwight Yorke in 1998 galvanised United to win the European Cup.

Ferguson said: "We needed a kick-start then. There is nothing better than for the best players to be challenged. Everyone in our dressing-room will sit up and take notice of this signing."

Ferguson's summer spending has reached £47m, only a little less than the combined totals of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool while the total salaries of United's first-choice midfield, all of whom apart from David Beckham have negotiated new contracts, will set the club back some £15m a year.

"We have always demonstrated we will compete in the transfer market when necessary," Kenyon said. "We broke the transfer record [for a defender] for Stam, we broke the record for a goalkeeper with Barthez. All these players have added real value and what has looked expensive at the time has been a real investment. Transfer fees are not an ego trip, they are a necessity."

Veron, who mixes physicality and flair, is the first major addition Ferguson has made to his midfield since Keane joined from Nottingham Forest in 1993.

The player himself, who played for Boca Juniors before joining Sampdoria five years ago, had no doubt he could adapt to the Premiership. "I was 19 or 20 when I left to go to Italy and people said I would not cope," he said. "I am confident I will do the same thing here."

Veron has not played at Old Trafford before, although he took advice from his father Juan Raimon, nicknamed The Witch (his son is The Little Witch), who scored for Estudiantes against United in a bitterly contested World Club Championship final in 1968. "I had better be tactful to my new employers," he said when asked his father's impressions of Old Trafford. "He always said the stadium was tremendous and had a great atmosphere."

Asked why he had signed for United rather than Real Madrid, who were interested in him, Veron cited the support Kenyon and Ferguson offered during the investigation into how he obtained an Italian passport. Facing a two-year ban, Veron was cleared of any wrong-doing. His coach at Lazio, Dino Zoff, said the investigation had affected Veron psychologically. Whether there is any carry-over will only be known when United's season opens next month.