“Phil Jones is going to go to the World Cup for England” – Pundit makes bold claim after Manchester United man returns

talkSPORT presenter Andy Goldstein has claimed that Manchester United defender Phil Jones could be on his way to England’s 2022 World Cup squad. This comes after he started in United's 1-0 loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old joined Manchester United from Blackburn Rovers in a £16.5 million deal back in June 2011. Sir Alex Ferguson famously proclaimed that Jones might become Manchester United’s best-ever player. He saw the defender as an integral part of his backline alongside Chris Smalling.

Now in his 10th season at the club, Jones started his first game since January 2020. He was out for 20 months due to a long-term knee injury and then went out of favour.

He produced a commanding display against Wolves despite being partly at fault for the conceded goal.

Andy Goldstein praised the centre-back and said:

“I’ll make a statement, Phil Jones is going to go to the World Cup for England. There are a couple of central defenders in that England squad I think Phil Jones is better than on his day. He’s better than [Tyrone] Mings. I’d rather have Jones than Coady in a two."

When asked if Jones is better than Manchester City’s John Stones, he replied:

“Ooh – in his pomp. I always worry with John Stones that he’s going to do a Cruyff turn. Phil Jones is going to go to the World Cup.”

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Can Manchester United's Phil Jones still make his way to the 2022 England World Cup squad?

Needless to say, Andy Goldstein’s claims come across as overtly ambitious. Jones is the only Manchester United player apart from David De Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo who has previously won the Premier League with the club. Most Manchester United fans might agree that a fully-fit Phil Jones is currently a better defender than club captain Harry Maguire.

Jones was part of the 2018 World Cup squad that made its way to the semi-finals where they lost 2-1 to Croatia. A potential return does not seem completely out of the question. However, Jones needs to have a consistent spell of games in the coming time in order to sneak his way into contention.

Manchester United are currently dealing with an injury crisis with the likes of Maguire, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof all injured. Raphael Varane has also recently returned from injury and Jones has a good chance of participating in further matches in the coming weeks. However, it might be too early to start making claims about a potential England return.