Phil Jones shows true colours as Rio Ferdinand apologises to ex-Man Utd star

Rio Ferdinand publicly apologized to former Manchester United teammate Phil Jones for criticizing him in the past, and the ex-defender’s answer demonstrated his class.

Phil Jones, an ex-Manchester United player, shown class by accepting Rio Ferdinand’s apologies for insulting him during his 18-month absence from playing due to injury.

Jones, who spent 12 years at Old Trafford, resigned from football in August after being released by the Premier League giants at the end of the previous season.

While he was a reliable option in his early years at Manchester, injuries slowed his growth, and he made only 13 appearances across all competitions in his final four years.

He missed 78 games for his old team in 2019 due to a knee injury, which kept him out for 18 months. With Ferdinand uninformed of his fitness concerns, he publicly chastised his old teammate, asking him to quit the club in order to gain regular minutes and enable a young player to grow in his absence.

Jones appeared as a guest on Rio Ferdinand Presents, and the six-time Premier League champion opened the podcast with an apology to the 32-year-old, revealing that his criticism of the defender even prompted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to phone him about it. “I have to say I apologise firstly before anything, I said sorry publicly but I’ll say it to your face this time now, for criticising you,” Ferdinand said.

“I criticized him for not playing for a long time and said, ‘He’s got to get out and play.’ I met this guy when he was 18 and came to Manchester United; he wants to play football, so why is he sitting there?

“Is it the Man United badge that he wants on his chest, is he staying for his own ego, just go and play some football [and] get out of the way, let another young kid come through because you’re stifling someone else’s growth maybe.”

A smiling Jones gently replied: “Apology accepted” before revealing that the criticism he got from Ferdinand, whom he described as someone he liked, came at a tough time in his life.

“I was vulnerable because I hadn’t played in so long and I was thinking ‘am I ever going to play again’, and having all these images and thoughts that it might be the end,” said the player. Jones stated his ambitions to acquire his coaching certifications after retiring and even began participating in United’s junior squad training sessions at Carrington.

His first season as a non-player at United has coincided with the club’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season, with Erik ten Hag’s team lying 14th with only eight points after seven games.