Manchester United defender Phil Jones has been told by former Red Devils star Clayton Blackmore to up his game if he wants to stay at Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old has had a difficult time at Man Utd for a while now, having slowly fallen down the pecking order at the club despite looking such an exciting young talent when he first joined.
United fans will no doubt be gutted to see how far Jones has fallen, but there’s no doubt some will also simply be losing patience with him at this point.
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Blackmore makes a good point, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News, that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could probably have done with keeping Chris Smalling at the club this season instead of Jones.
Smalling has shone on loan at Roma and perhaps looks like he could still have a role to play for MUFC, despite also struggling in recent seasons.
He can’t be any worse than Jones, though, with Blackmore warning the former Blackburn man that he really needs to step up his form or risk his future at Old Trafford.
“If you’d given me a choice between Jones and Chris Smalling, I’d always take Smalling,” Blackmore, who played for United between 1982 and 1994, told the MEN.
“Jones has got to up his game if he wants to stay at United. He’s got to start making the correct decisions, at the right time.
“To be fair to Jones he give you 100 per cent – although it’s probably too much.
“He needs to learn to read the game and get in the right positions. There’s still too many last ditch challenges.
“I’d also put Smalling ahead of Marcos Rojo and Eric Bailly.