Juan Sebastian Veron yesterday said he wanted to stay at Manchester United, making it clear he regards a move to Chelsea as a backward step. His manager, Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, launched a thinly veiled attack on Newcastle for apparently leaking his interest in Kieron Dyer.

"The problem for our club is that as soon as one of our rivals want to sell a player they attach our name to it and we have to go through a forest of nonsense," Ferguson said.

The manager appears to be genuinely taken aback by the weight of speculation and, with a starting price of £25 million for Dyer, he will explore other possibilities.

While Ferguson rates him as one of the best players in his position in Europe, he also has doubts about the player's attitude and, most significantly, his recurrent injury problems.

Pressed further about his intentions in the wake of the collapsed Ronaldinho transfer, Ferguson added: "We need to take our time and analyse things properly. We don't need to rush into anything and after all the stuff that has gone on in the past few weeks, I think we deserve a break.

"There are two or three players we could be interested in, but we will not be doing anything for a few weeks. We need to draw our breath. But the media have been given the wrong information. In terms of who we can bring in, I can quite clearly say we will not be doing business with anyone for the moment."

Whether that also applies to outgoings is less clear, but one certainty is if Veron is to leave Old Trafford it will be against his wishes.

"I don't want to go anywhere," he said. "I don't fully know the club's intentions, but I have never asked to leave and I have made my feelings clear. I do not want to go to Chelsea or anywhere else."

Veron was omitted from Ferguson's new 4-2-3-1 formation for Wednesday's 4-0 win over Celtic at the Seahawks Stadium, a match that could hardly have gone much better for the champions. It included a debut goal from David Bellion and was watched by an appreciative crowd of 66,722. "Man U Rocks!" read one banner.

United treated the mix of travelling Mancunians, expatriates and curious locals to an exhibition of passing and finishing.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's classy goal epitomised the slickness of United's play, spinning past Stanislav Varga before producing a customary finish, and the striker also set up Ryan Giggs just before the half hour.

In between, Alan Thompson skewed a penalty horribly wide after Roy Keane had brought down Stilian Petrov, but the result did not flatter United, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making it 3-0 before half-time and Bellion running clear in the 72nd minute to score with the outside of his right foot.

"We were playing a team that is vying with Real Madrid as the best in Europe," said Celtic's manager Martin O'Neill.

"We could have played much better, but they showed what a great side they can be and how much ahead of us they are."