Phil Jones makes Manchester United comeback: How old is defender and when did he last play?

Manchester United defender Phil Jones is set to return to first team action against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.

Jones has been sidelined with a succession of problems, including a major knee injury which required surgery and more than 13 months of rehabilitation during lockdown.

The former England international has reached full fitness, and starts alongside Raphael Varane at the heart of United’s defence.

When did Phil Jones last play?

Jones has not played for the Manchester United first team since an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Tranmere on 26 January 2020.

The centre-back was one of the scorers in a 6-0 win.

As part of his rehab, Jones played in an under-23s game at Arsenal on 11 September and in another against Brighton seven days later.

He has featured three times for the Manchester United youth side in Premier League 2 this season.

How old is Phil Jones?

The defender is now 29 years old.

Jones was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a 19-year-old back in 2011 in a £16.5million deal from Blackburn Rovers.

He was seen as one of the most exciting English defenders of his generation, and Ferguson even said he could be the next Duncan Edwards.

What has been said?

“I’m so happy for Phil,” Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told MUTV.

“He has completed two 90 minutes for the Under-23s, played some minutes behind closed doors and he’s got no reaction on his knee. He’s been working really hard.”

Jones himself said: “Thankfully, I see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and I’ve been back training, played a few behind-closed-doors games and I’m feeling really good at the minute.

“It’s so good to be back out training with the lads and enjoying being a footballer again because for the last 15 months, it’s been all ‘daddy day care’ and not much football.”

Jones has played more than 200 games for Manchester United since joining from Blackburn.

He won the Premier League title in 2012-13, the FA Cup in 2016 and the Europa League in 2017.