Liverpool In tug-of-war over Phil Jones with Arsenal and Manchester United
Liverpool will have to face stiff competition from Arsenal and Manchester United and pay close to £18m to land Blackburn Rovers Phil Jones
The highly-rated England Under-21 defender and his agent had a meeting with manager Steve Kean at Blackburn's Brockhall training ground on Monday morning when Jones is believed to have indicated that he feels the time is right to make the step up to a bigger club.
Jones, who signed a new five-year contract in January, is unlikely to submit a formal transfer request and Blackburn’s wealthy Indian owners, Venkys, could yet veto any attempts by Jones to leave the club.
Liverpool and Arsenal are currently at the front of the queue with the player's camp said to favour a move to Anfield.
However sources at Blackburn Rovers have confirmed that Sir Alex Ferguson expressed an interest in January, and both Manchester United and neighbours City could enter the equation once the bidding begins. Ferguson wants to sign Jones as a long term partner for Chris Smalling.
Blackburn value Jones at about £15million but are determined not sell him for less than the club record £18m banked from Roque Santa Cruz's move to City two years ago.
