Man Utd confirm Phil Jones plan this summer amid 4 options and retirement fears

Phil Jones will leave Manchester United at the end of June, having only played 13 games in the past four seasons due to injury problems, but he still has some intriguing options open to him

Phil Jones is poised to leave Manchester United(Tom Purslow/Getty Images)

Phil Jones will leave Manchester United at the end of June and embark on a new chapter of his life.

Jones has been at United for 12 years, having joined the club in a £16million transfer from Blackburn in the summer of 2011. The centre-back has barely featured for United over the past few years due to injuries, but it still only 31 years old.

United’s statement on his departure said he was “now taking some time before deciding his next move”. Jones has not played a competitive first-team game for United since the 3-0 win over Brentford over a year ago and has played a total of 13 matches since the end of the 2018/19 season.

Jones penned an emotional letter to the United fans in which he said: “It’s about getting up from setbacks and keeping going. This is a lesson I’ll push into my next challenges, for whatever lies ahead.” Here Mirror Football takes a look at what those challenges might be for the defender.

Table of Contents

Retirement

Jones has spoken eloquently about his battles with injuries over the past few years. “I spent some difficult days away from my family, rehabilitating and recovering away from everyone, recuperating away from the training pitch, which I was desperate to get back to,” he wrote in his letter to the United fans.

“I’ve said before that I found it hard to even speak to my team-mates because I was hurt that I couldn’t help them. I was hurt that my family couldn’t see me on matchdays, and you feel like you’re letting people down.”

He has not played football consistently since the 2018/19 season and, alongside his wife and two children, that he doesn’t want to put his body through anymore rehabilitation. However, there are a few intriguing other options for him.

Blackburn Rovers

Phil Jones made his name at Blackburn Rovers(Michael Regan/Getty Images)

The romantic move would be for Jones to move back to his boyhood club, where he made his name as a talented ball-playing centre-back. Blackburn was home for Jones, who came through the Lancashire club’s academy before shining there for two seasons.