PHIL JONES faces being frozen out at Manchester United after they offered him to West Ham as part of their bid to sign Issa Diop. United have targeted the French defender as part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rebuilding plans at Old Trafford this summer and offered £45million plus a player to the Hammers. SunSport understands […]
PHIL JONES faces being frozen out at Manchester United after they offered him to West Ham as part of their bid to sign Issa Diop.
United have targeted the French defender as part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rebuilding plans at Old Trafford this summer and offered £45million plus a player to the Hammers.
SunSport understands that player was centre-back Jones – who only signed a new contract at United in February.
West Ham immediately rejected the offer, partly because they had no intention of selling Diop and also because they have no interest in taking Jones.
But the news that Solskjaer appears to be willing to sacrifice the England star, 27, this summer throws his future at Old Trafford in major doubt.
The Norwegian had only been in charge of the club for two months when Jones put pen to paper on a deal until 2023 last season – when the side was still unbeaten under the manager.
He joined defensive partner Chris Jones in agreeing new terms with United as the club sought to tie their players down for the long-term.
But the manner in which United’s season fell apart in the last 10 weeks of the campaign left Solskjaer warning his stars that their futures could not be guaranteed.
He admitted after the final day home defeat to relegated Cardiff that some of the squad may have played their last match for the club.
Jones started that match, but was hauled off at half-time to be replaced by Anthony Martial.
And now the former Blackburn star has discovered he is expendable to the manager and the club if they feel they can get in a better option.
West Ham’s position is that they are not interested in selling French defender Diop, 22, although they did test United’s interest by saying they could be open to a deal if they threw in winger Martial.
Solskjaer is getting down to the serious work of trying to push through deals, having made it clear he wants as much of his squad in place as possible by the start of pre-season training on July 1.
He also contacted West Ham to enquire about Declan Rice’s availability, and United are trying to seal a deal with Crystal Palace for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
