Veron quits Inter for return home

Veron never won over his critics in England

Former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron has left Inter Milan to return to the Argentine club where his career began.

The 31-year-old will join Estudiantes, who are coached by his former Argentina international team-mate Diego Simeone.

"I've always wanted to return," said Veron, who played in two World Cups.

Veron joined United in 2001 for £28m, then a British record, but was sold to Chelsea for £15m after two seasons and left for Inter after a further one.

Veron helped United to the Champions League semi-finals in his first season and the Premiership title in 2003, but he never fully settled at the club.

His single season at Chelsea was disrupted by a lengthy injury absence, and new coach Jose Mourinho deemed him surplus to requirements when he joined the club for the 2004-5 season.

Veron moved to Europe in 1995, leaving top Argentine side Boca Juniors for Italy's Sampdoria.

He moved from there to Parma and then on to Lazio, where - with Simeone - he was a key member of the team that won the Serie A title under coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2000.

He was central to Argentina's progress to the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup, and was captain when the team suffered a shock first-round exit in four years later.