Manchester United set to pay £20.5m for Jones after late £22m offer from Liverpool
By Nick Harris
Prompted by a ‘hardball’ attitude from Blackburn Rovers owners and a late £22m bid on Saturday from Liverpool for Rovers’ England under-21 defender Phil Jones , Manchester United have agreed to pay £20.5m for the player and the deal is expected to be completed imminently. It is mid-afternoon in India at the time of writing and the decisions were finalised this morning, Indian time.
As has been widely – and correctly – reported, there was a £16.5m release clause in the extended Rovers contract that Jones, 19, signed in February.
But the Rovers owners’ contention was that it didn’t necessarily force them to sell Jones as soon as one club triggered it with a bid of that amount.
A crucial fact that muddied the waters is United appeared to know precise details about the terms of the release before Rovers had given any club permission to speak to the player. The only way United could have known this is if Rovers had told them – and sources insist they didn’t – or if somebody else told them when they shouldn’t have done so under the letter of the transfer laws.
This fact, as well as Liverpool’s offer of £22m, gave Rovers some traction in negotiations. Well-placed senior sources in India have made it clear that a tapping-up complaint against Manchester United was an option open to them.
If Manchester United felt they were on solid ground with their £16.5m deal and no more, that’s what they’d be paying. But they’re not paying that. That’s why the deal has been agreed at £20.5m. They are paying more to make the deal happen now.
Venky’s did not want to go down the acrimonious route of official complaints if it could be avoided, and clearly feel there is no point in dragging the situation out further. In any case, Jones has made it clear his preference is to join United.
In the end, it was decided that holding out for more than £20.5m wasn’t going to help manager Steve Kean’s planning. Kean flew into Mumbai yesterday. The owners and Kean spent yesterday in Pune, discussing their options.
The Rao family, who bought Blackburn late last year, wanted to keep Jones. That was their preference. Income from a sale is of no relevance to them. But once it was clear Jones was never going to be persuaded to stay – even on £80,000 a week and with the future captaincy as bait – the issue was getting as much above £16.5m as possible.
Sportingintelligence does not know whether Liverpool would have gone higher than £22m but that bid was made yesterday. If nothing else, this saga demonstrates that United and Liverpool are both going to spend large amounts this summer.
http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2011/06/12/manchester-united-set-to-pay-20-5m-for-jones-after-late-22m-offer-from-liverpool-120601/
