£15m Veron deal agreed

Veron's move takes the transfer spending of new Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to a staggering £58.5m on six players since his takeover.

The deal ends weeks of speculation about the future of the Argentina midfield star, who joined United for £28.1m two seasons ago.

It also now leaves a large hole in the United midfield after David Beckham's departure to Real Madrid and Sir Alex Ferguson seems certain to be looking for one major signing in this area before the end of August.

Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp has branded West Ham a " disgrace" after the club agreed to sell Joe Cole to Chelsea for £6.6m. The Portsmouth manager, who gave Cole his West Ham debut, said: "When I heard the news I was very disappointed. It's a sad, sad day for the club. To me Joey was priceless and what they are doing at that club is a disgrace. The fans deserve better.

"They have sold Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Cole, Freddie Kanoute, Glen Johnson, Trevor Sinclair. Where are they going? What are they doing?"

Last night, radio and TV shows were flooded with calls from West Ham fans furious at the sale of yet another of their young stars.

In a statement, West Ham insisted they had no option other than to sell Cole because the player had made it clear he was unlikely to extend his contract, which had a year left to run.

"Following 18 months of discussions, it was made clear that Joe would not consider extending his contract," West Ham said. "The board felt that the decision to accept a significant offer was correct."

Cole said he felt he needed to move in order to play in the Champions League and force his way into the England team. He said: "It was a difficult decision but I felt to further my career, I would need to move to a club that was playing regularly in Europe."