London - Manchester United multi-million pound signing of teenage defender Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers lies in tatters. Blackburn Indian owners have reacted furiously to what they perceive as United attempt to railroad them into selling the 19 year old and have told United "We will not be bullied".
And in a stunning 11th-hour development on Saturday, Liverpool have told Blackburn they will pay 22 million for Jones, a move that will ruin Sir Alex Ferguson holiday mood as he takes a break in the south of France. Arsenal have also belatedly submit ted a bid that tops United 16.5 million offer and with Chelsea showing serious interest in the player, too, an auction appears to be unfolding. It will come as a bitter blow to Ferguson if he misses out on Jones, and it will sting all the harder if the player ends up at United fierce rivals at Anfield.
Rover owners have been angered by United attitude and at a meeting on Saturday in Pune, india which was attended by manager Steve Kean, straight off a plane to Mumbai they resolved to prevent the deal going through. United have offered to make Jones the highest-paid teenager in the history of English football with a startling 80,000 pound a week contract but Blackburn are even prepared to top that.
Rover's chairwomen Anuradha Desai made it clear to Kean and fellow executives who made up a "war council" in india that they must try to persuade the defender to stay. The prospect of being a future club captain is also being dangled before Jones. Money is said to be "not an issue" for Desai's family who are billionaires through their Venky's poultry conglomerate. They want to keep their best players, especially homegrown talents such as Jones.
But if they fail to persuade him, they will do all they can to elicit the best price from one of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, United or Tottenham, telling Jones "if you go, you go where we get the best money" A source close to Rovers said " United can't do what they want in this case. Jones is a Blackburn player and while there is a clause that could mean he leaves, it's far from the straight forward issue everyone assumes it to be - Stay Tune!
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