The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson thought he had got a bargain at £16.5m when he matched the buy-out clause for Blackburn’s Phil Jones, but the Blackburn owners have launched a legal challenge to try and stop Jones from leaving Ewood Park.
Now it seems that the Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has decided to bid £22m to get the England youngster to move to Anfield instead, despite Jones completing a medical at Old Trafford and agreeing personal terms with United.
Dalglish has already admitted that he is aiming to build his new Liverpool side around brilliant young English talent, and Jones is next on the list after securing Jordan Henderson from Sunderland.
The Mail on Sunday quotes a Blackburn source as saying: “United can’t do what they want in this case. Jones is a Blackburn player and while there is a clause that could mean he leaves, it’s far from the straightforward issue everyone assumes it to be.”
Man United were reported to have offered Jones the highest wages ever paid to a teenager at £80,000 a week, so Liverpool will have to match that as well as pay the £22m if Blackburn accept their bid.
But that is by no means certain as Blackburn are also willing to beat that wage to try and convince the youngster to stay at Ewood Park, while the Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is also said to have made an improved bid which is also higher than Man Utd’s, so the U21 international may yet end up at the Emirates!
This is certainly set to be an interesting week for Jones and his representatives!
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