Manchester United defender reveals Old Trafford exit thoughts

Manchester United defender Phil Jones has revealed he contemplated leaving the club during Louis van Gaal’s time at the club.

Jones, 24, has emerged as a key player for Jose Mourinho in recent months after finally putting his injury concerns behind him.

However, the England international may not have even been around for Mourinho to utilise his talents at the back after finding life under Van Gaal tough.

Jones, who Sir Alex Ferguson famously tipped as a potential future United legend, did not feature for United after January 2 last season and the versatile defender grew frustrated by his lack of game time under the Dutchman.

“The only three [managers to believe in me] were Sam Allardyce, Sir Alex Ferguson and now Jose Mourinho,” Jones told the Manchester Evening News.

“Jose, this season has just give me so much confidence in training. You make a mistake and it is just a case of ‘so what, get on with it’.

“For whatever reason he [Van Gaal] thought I needed to be fitter. I had no problem with that, I just played the games. I did what I could do to get back in the team and unfortunately it didn’t really work out under him.”

“No question there were thoughts about my future. It was in the back of my mind. If you are not playing games that speaks volumes.”

However, Jones’ return to fitness and introduction back into the first-team has coincided with United’s resurgence under Mourinho. United are currently 15 games unbeaten in the league  - the current longest run in Europe’s top five leagues – and are knocking on the door of the top four as they plot their way back into contention for next season’s Champions League.

With Jones in the team United are unbeaten in the Premier League, compared to three defeats in the 12 matches he was not able to start.

For more stats on Phil Jones, click here to visit his WhoScored player page