Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson lauded Juan Sebastian Veron on Thursday and said he was mystified by suggestions the Argentina midfielder would sign for Chelsea in the next few days.

Veron was named man-of-the-match as United beat Juventus 4-1 in a pre-season friendly on their tour of the United States, while media reports in Britain continued to link him with a move to big-spending Chelsea.

"I can't answer the question of what's going on," Ferguson told reporters. "Every day the press keep seeing him with us on tour and every day someone writes about him going.

"Unless he's going to be whisked from under my nose, those people are wrong."

The Scot, talking later to MUTV, added: "The stories (about Veron leaving) are emanating from England but the media (covering the tour) are here and can see Veron every day. It's very strange."

Veron joined United from Italian club Lazio for 28.1 million pounds ($45.27 million) two years ago but has failed to live up to expectations, producing his best form in fits and starts.

BETTER PERFORMANCES

Thursday night was one of his better performances, helping to lay on goals for Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy as United maintained their fine pre-season form.

"He's a marvellous player with great imagination," said Ferguson. "He deserved the (man-of-the-match) award."

Veron last week turned down the chance to join Chelsea, telling Ferguson he wanted to fight for his place.

But the issue resurfaced after his agent claimed on Tuesday that a deal with the London club was still possible.

Ferguson declared himself "pleased" with his side's pre-season form during their tour of the US They have won all three games, scoring 11 goals and conceding two.

"The feature of our play has been the manner in which we've scored our goals," said Ferguson. "We had two more special ones tonight -- Ryan Giggs's free kick and Ruud van Nistelrooy's magnificent strike.

"I said when I first signed him (van Nistelrooy) he had similarities to (former Netherlands striker) Marco van Basten...Ruud is still improving, we don't know how far he can go."

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