Man Utd player is not at ‘the level’ to play in the Championship – ‘he has to move on’

Man Utd player Phil Jones has been told that he does not have the “desire and passion” required to play in the Championship.

The 31-year-old has been with since 2011. He has played 229 times for the Premier League side since joining them from Blackburn Rovers.

His career has been severely hampered by injuries over the past few seasons. He has only managed to play 13 times for Man Utd across all competitions since the start of the 2019/20 campaign.

Jones is out of contract at the end of this season and he is expected to be among a few players who will be let go by Erik ten Hag.

Ex-Man Utd player Paul Parker thinks Jones “needs to consider” whether to “retire or continue playing”.

“Obviously, his contract is expiring this summer and he needs to consider whether he wants to retire or continue playing. He has been enjoying himself for a lot of years now in a club that he loves with a big salary as a bonus but now he has to move on,” Parker told bettors.

“If a club is going to sign him, they have to work really, really hard with him. His muscles aren’t that strong anymore and it requires a lot to play in the Championship. That is a seriously tough league and I don’t think he has the level to be perfectly honest.

“But he has to remember that a new club will ask him to play games. Does he want to do that? I’m not sure about that. I’m not sure that he has the passion, drive and desire to play and throw himself into reckless tackles and risk another injury.”

Parker is also wary that people will be “waiting” for Jones to make mistakes next season if he decides to join another club.

“He needs to be aware that all eyes will be on him. Everyone is going to look at him so he needs to be 100% sure that he is not going to let his teammates or the manager down,” Parker added.

“I would love to understand… I would love to read or hear from him. Why did he stay for that long time at Man United? Why would he do that to himself?”

He continued: “Everyone will look at him and just wait for that little mistake from him. It is going to be a really difficult time for him now.. This could be the Mount Everest of football.”