According to The Telegraph, Newcastle have made an enquiry for Manchester United defender Phil Jones.

What’s the word?

The Magpies had a bit of a centre-back crisis a few months ago, when the likes of Florian Lejeune, Fabian Schar, Jamal Lascelles and Ciaran Clark were all ruled out with injuries, leading Steve Bruce to call the situation “ridiculous”.

Perhaps with that in mind, The Telegraph claim that United ace Jones has been the subject of a transfer enquiry from the Magpies as they look to reinforce their defence before the end of the transfer window.

Transfer disaster for Newcastle

If Newcastle are seriously contemplating making a move for Jones – who himself has had numerous injury problems in recent years and has missed 123 games for United since joining them – then they really need to have a strong, hard look at themselves.

Whilst he may still only be 28, the £75k-a-week earning Jones has been nothing short of a flop at United, especially given the kind of hype that surrounded him when he burst onto the scene at Blackburn Rovers.

The fact he made just eight appearances across all competitions last season for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, tells you everything you need to know about how low his stock has fallen.

If you were to compare his performances to that of Ciaran Clark, who has also fallen out of the starting picture at St James’ Park (he made just 17 appearances last season), then actually, you would see a player who is worse than the Republic of Ireland international.

As per WhoScored, Jones averaged less tackles, less clearances and committed more fouls on average than Clark last season, whilst the Magpies man also chipped in with two goals too.

Bruce and Newcastle would be heading for an unforgivable mistake if they were to sign a Premier League flop who isn’t even better than one of their fringe options.