LONDON Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson believes the signing of Argentine midfielder Juan Veron could be the catalyst for fresh success at the English Premier League champions.

Italian Club Lazio agreed on Thursday to sell Veron to United for 80 billion Italian lire ($34.76 million).

Lazio President Sergio Cragnotti said the deal would be completed next week, while a spokesman for United said there were still some details to be ironed out after a "very good" meeting with the 26-year-old player's advisors.

Veron returns from holiday at the weekend and is expected to undergo a medical at old trafford next week.

If the deal is completed, Veron will become the costliest player in British football history.

United set the current British transfer record when they paid PSV Eindhoven 19 million pounds for striker Ruud van Nistelrooy in April.

Ferguson recently demanded that the club back his plans in the transfer market and is clearly upbeat about the impact Veron will have on his team.

"Veron is a terrific player that's for sure. He is an attacking midfielder with good physique, good stamina. He has a good attitude to the game," said Ferguson.

IMPROVE UNITED

"He will improve us that is for sure. He will give us plenty of options. We needed that one player who will give everyone at the club a lift. We needed an outfield player who can influence everyone like our keeper Fabien Barthez does," the United boss told the Mirror.

Although United retained their league title last season, they disappointed in Europe, crashing out to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the champions league.

Ferguson said he felt his team needed freshening up and admitted that last term they struggled when key players were off form.

"The present team need a challenge. They have achieved so much but there were indications last year that they needed a new spark.

"When Becks (David Beckham) went off the boil a little, when Giggsy (Ryan Giggs) got his injury, we didn't carry them as much as we have in the past".

Ferguson said he had targetted several top European players this summer as he sought to strengthen his squad.

The Scot said he had wanted to buy French defender Lilian Thuram who recently moved from Parma to Juventus but the transfer fee had been too high.

APPROACH BLOCKED

He also said he tried to lure another French defender Bixente Lizarazu from Bayern Munich, but the German champions had blocked the approach.

Veron, who helped Lazio secure the serie a title in 2000, was recently cleared by an Italian Football League hearing of accusations that he was playing for the Rome Club under a fake passport.

United would be the fifth club Veron has played for, after starting his career with estudiantes De la Plata.

He has also played for Boca juniors, Sampdoria and Parma.