Sir Phil Jones

Jones explains United choice

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Phil Jones said the personal touch convinced him to join Manchester United ahead of other Premier League clubs during the summer.

PA PhotosPhil Jones has made a fine start to life at Manchester United

Jones, 19, emerged as one of the finest young players in England during his time at Blackburn, and Arsenal saw a bid rejected in 2010 while Liverpool expressed serious interest in his services during the summer.

Having spoken to Sir Alex Ferguson and his staff, though, Jones was left in no doubt about his preferred destination.

"It was brilliant when I heard of United's interest, an incredible feeling," he told theDaily Telegraph. "The whole experience - speaking to the manager on the phone, meeting him in person, going through the whole process of signing - was fantastic.

"Lots of clubs showed an interest in me, but United just felt right: the whole club, the set-up. It wasn't the fact that it was United, it was that I walked in here and met people, the staff and physios etc, and it just felt right.

"At Blackburn, when I knew there was interest from bigger clubs, I said to myself that if it [a move] happens then it has to feel right, and this felt right."

He added: "I wanted to come here and play. I didn't want to come from playing every week at Blackburn to becoming a bit-part player at United, but I knew I probably had to do that at the start.

"I wanted to come to United because I felt that the club was right for me, so if I had to wait, I was prepared for it."

He has had a hugely impressive start to life at the club, and United legend Paddy Crerard recently revealed Sir Bobby Charlton felt Jones was reminiscent of the great Busby Babe Duncan Edwards, who was killed in the Munich air crash.

"It's brilliant for me to even be considered as being a player who could become as good as Duncan Edwards was," Jones said. "It is flattering and, for young lads like myself and my team-mates to be compared to great young players of the past, it is an amazing feeling.

"People have told me about Duncan, facts and figures about him, but I obviously know what he means to this club. When you come into training in the morning, knowing that people are talking about you in the same breath as players of the Busby era, it is fantastic, but I can't let it affect me. I have to play my own game and continue to do what I have been doing so far."