Once tipped to be Manchester United’s greatest ever player, Phil Jones is now facing an increasingly uphill battle to ever appear for the club again.
On Wednesday, Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag confirmed his 25-man squad for the upcoming Premier League squad, with Phil Jones the notable omission. That followed his non-inclusion in the Europa League squad, meaning to all intents and purposes the central defender will be little more than a glorified spectator.
The former England international will be able to turn out in Carabao Cup games, but with only one round set to be completed before the season pauses for the World Cup - the likelihood is that he remains in the stands for the remainder of 2022.
It’s all a far cry from the fanfare surrounding his Old Trafford arrival and the high praise lavished upon him by Sir Alex Ferguson. Signed two years before he hung up his hairdryer, Jones was expected to become the lynchpin of the post-Ferguson era.
Able to play in more than one position, with England honours by the time he was 19, the former Blackburn defender was tipped right for the very top by the legendary Scot. “You saw Jones tonight…arguably the way he is looking, he could be our best ever player,” Ferguson said after winning the title in 2013.
“At 21 years of age, he is going to be a phenomenal player. I think he can play anywhere on the pitch. He has such a massive influence, with his instinct and reading of the game. He has a drive about him."
However, in the nine years following those comments his career arc has been vastly different to the one laid out by his former boss. In the nine preceding seasons, Jones has managed to play more than 30 games just once. And from the start of the 2019 campaign, you can count his Premier League appearances on six fingers.
But it hasn’t all been a case of unfulfilled potential. Few players tipped for the heights Jones was have suffered such a litany of serious and debilitating injuries.
In February 2019, Jones signed a new four-year contract at Old Trafford, despite his limited appearances. Since that deal, he has appeared just 21 times, with a knee injury - which left him on the verge of retirement - keeping him out for 20 months.
“I’ve been through hell and back over the last couple of years,” he explained last year. “I struggled with my knee a little bit and [there] came a point after lockdown where I thought enough was enough. I kept myself in great shape over lockdown and came back. But I remember just training out here and going into the doc and saying ‘enough’s enough’.
“I think as a footballer, as a person, as a human being, that’s the lowest I probably ever felt in my life.”
His former team-mate Rio Ferdinand hit out at Jones and United, claiming he was “baffled” he was offered a new contract in the first place. "He’s taking up a youth team player’s position in that squad right now," he told his Vibe with FIVE YouTube channel in 2021. "Huge potential but injuries have absolutely annihilated his career and then confidence issues at certain times as well.
He continued: "I think he should’ve gone ages ago. He should’ve gone before Chris Smalling went. Find a new club and play some football.
"I am baffled at how he’s still been given a new deal at the club given his past few years at the club. It just doesn’t make sense to me how you get a new deal."
Ferdinand would ultimately apologise for those comments after being made privy to the extent of issues Jones had been dealing with: “I didn't know that, that's not been communicated to the public. So from that standpoint, for someone who's been injured, knowing what that does to you from a mental point of view, I hold my hands up and I apologise."
Ralf Rangnick handed Jones an unlikely start earlier this year vs Wolves and he displayed some of those old qualities as he earned the Player of the Match award despite their defeat. Nevertheless, the writing was quickly on the wall when Rangnick’s successor Ten Hag arrived.
Reports suggested that the 30-year-old was banished from the first-team dressing room, having quickly been deemed as surplus to requirements. Jones had hoped to seal a move before the window closed, but now faces a further period on the sidelines - albeit this one is enforced by management rather than medical.
January will be his next opportunity to leave Old Trafford, before the curtain will officially come down on his United career next summer. And with his departure, United will have no outfield players from Ferguson’s final title-winning squad.
It remains to be seen the calibre of club Jones will be able to join, but if he needs a reference, he will need to look no further than his former boss. When the two were reunited at Sir Alex’s film premiere last year, he made it clear that those early performances hadn’t been forgotten.
"He was just unbelievable for me,” Jones explained earlier this year. ”I went to the premiere of his film with a few players and he came over, we shook hands and then out of the blue he said, ‘Hey, you were f****** terrific against Real Madrid away [in 2013]. F****** marking Ronaldo.’ It just gave me so much confidence.
“To be honest, I didn’t even watch his premiere, I was just sitting there thinking about his comment, thinking, ‘He remembers it...someone of his magnitude remembers that.’”
