Liverpool face battle to sign Jones

Liverpool will have to overcome interest from Arsenal and Manchester United and pay in excess of £16 million to sign Blackburn defender Phil Jones.

Jones, 19, held talks with manager Steve Kean at Blackburn's Brockhall training ground on Monday morning, during which he admitted his determination to consider opportunities to play for a bigger club.

Jones is a defender who can also play in midfield. He signed a new five-year contract in January, and is unlikely to submit a formal transfer request, so Blackburn's wealthy Indian owners, Venkys, could yet veto any attempts by Jones to leave the club.

It is understood Jones has a £16m escape clause in his contract, but if a bidding war happens, Blackburn could still receive more than the club record fee of £17m they were paid by Chelsea and Manchester City for Damien Duff and Roque Santa Cruz respectively.

The Rovers manager is well aware of Jones' potential and his ability to gatecrash England's Euro 2012 squad, should Fabio Capello's team qualify.

Kenny Dalglish is eager to sign the Chorley-born centre-half before he takes part in the European U21 Championship in Denmark, which begins this weekend.

But with Arsenal and United also expressing an interest, and Chelsea inquiring about the teenager during the January transfer window, Liverpool have been told they have no chance of persuading Blackburn to sell their prized asset before the end of the week.

Blackburn rejected a £10 million offer from Arsenal for Jones last August, but manager Arsène Wenger has remained an admirer of the player and it is understood that Jones favours a move to the Emirates ahead of a transfer to Liverpool.

United's interest dates back more than 12 months and Sir Alex Ferguson admitted to senior figures at Ewood Park that he was hugely impressed by Jones during the 0-0 draw between the two clubs at Blackburn in April 2010.

Although Ferguson is keen to identify a central defender to become a long-term partner for Chris Smalling at Old Trafford due to underlying concerns over Rio Ferdinand's ability to avoid further injury, the United manager has greater priorities this summer.

While both Ferguson and Wenger would be prepared to wait a further 12 months before making a move for Jones, Liverpool's firm interest this summer could force both United and Arsenal to enter the race now in order to avoid missing out on the player.

Although Blackburn have not received a formal bid for Jones since Arsenal's offer last August, sources at the club have been led to believe that Ferguson will make a concrete move for the player should Liverpool submit a bid.

United's ability to offer players as part of any deal, such as Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Mame Biram Diouf and Darron Gibson, plus the possibility of a season-long loan back involving Jones, would give them an advantage over Liverpool and Arsenal.

However, Rovers manager Kean is wary of allowing Jones to leave the club without making a concerted effort to keep him, if only to avoid the risk of other key figures, such as Christopher Samba and Paul Robinson, becoming disillusioned by the loss of a highly-rated team-mate.

Meanwhile, Blackburn are attempting to beat off Sunderland and Newcastle in the race to sign Birmingham's Swedish midfielder Sebastian Larsson.

Larsson's agent, Per Jonsson, said: "He wants to stay in England. He loves it there and there are three or four clubs that are very interested.

"Blackburn is one of them, but I have told Sebastian to focus on the national team now and we will sort things out with a new club after that."

Source: The Telegraph