Stoke City are reportedly eyeing a loan move for out-of-favour Manchester United defender Phil Jones.
The Sun have reported that Mark Hughes is interested in bringing Manchester United defender Phil Jones to the Bet365 Stadium. The England international is not in Jose Mourinho’s first-team plans at Old Trafford, and with the Potters wanting to add a centre-back to their squad, Hughes sees Phil Jones as someone who can improve the team.
Manchester Evening News report that Mark Hughes refused to rule out a loan move for the former Blackburn Rovers player when asked the question by a journalist following his side’s defeat to Manchester City on Saturday. The report added that the Stoke manager even asked of the journalists if the Manchester United defender was in the stands during the 4-1 defeat.
Phil Jones arrived at Old Trafford in 2011 from Blackburn Rovers for £16m and was tipped for a bright future with England and Manchester United. However, the defender has failed to live up to his potential, missing significant periods of the football season with injury.
The 24-year-old has not featured for the first team at Manchester United since their win over Swansea in January and has been excluded from the matchday squads thus far by Jose Mourinho. Eric Bailly and Daley Blind have started each game for the club and with Chris Smalling recovering from his injury, Phil Jones is unlikely to see much game-time at Old Trafford.
The move would be beneficial for all the three sides as Phil Jones would get more minutes at Stoke City, while Mark Hughes will be able to fill the central defender spot. Meanwhile, Manchester United would ensure that Jones continues his progression and given it would only be a temporary move, Mourinho could decide to use the Englishman in the future if he has a successful spell at the Britannia Stadium.
