Phil Jones Join Manchester United

Phil Jones will join Manchester United this summer on a 5-year deal for a transfer fee believed to be £16.5 million. Despite being regarded as a center-back, Jones actually spent the majority of the 2010-11 Premier League season as a defensive-midfielder for Blackburn - 18 starts were made as a midfielder while only 6 starts were made as a center-back. General Scouting Report

At the very least, this allows your side to build-up an attack and it allows time for players to find space to expose. As a defensive-minded midfielder, Jones completed 330 passes this season out of an attempted 527 (63%).

While you would actually like this completion percentage to be higher for a player that plays in such a deep position on the pitch, it can anticipated to be higher while playing for United because Blackburn played in such a direct style - especially in the first half of the season under former manager Sam Allardyce.

With Chris Smalling, yet another young English centre back and Johnny Evans in the Manchester United squad and far more experienced than the young Jones’, it is safe to say that both of them will be higher in the pecking order than the former Blackburn defender at Manchester United.

However speculation is rife with regard to Johnny Evans’ future at Manchester United. Similarly Paul Scholes’ retirement and United’s refusal to hand Owen Hargreaves a pay-as-you-play deal means that there is an absence of talent in Manchester United’s midfield as well. Admittedly, Jones’ doesn’t play in a creative midfielder’s position thus talk of him replacing Paul Scholes can be trashed right away.

Kean made the admission shortly after the Lancashire outfit confirmed that the highly-rated 19-year-old England Under-21 defender had signed a five-year deal with the Premier League champions on Monday afternoon.

"The offer we made he was staggering for a 19-year-old, but it wasn't the money," manager Kean told Sky Sports News.

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