Former Manchester United midfielder David Jones has opened up on his time at the club. He revealed how senior player, Roy Keane and Gary Neville helped him negotiate his first deal with Manchester United.
According to him as at that time, he did have an agent as a teenager and the former Manchester United legends offered to speak on his behalf in a round table tlak with then manager Alex Ferguson.
The former Manchester United player David Jones experienced between the ages of 18 and 21. 'It was a great place to start my career. I got a fantastic insight into what makes a top player,' he told Sportsmail.
'At the time, Manchester United were without doubt the biggest club in the world and every player wanted to play for them and for Sir Alex Ferguson. I was 19 and had been training with the first team for about six months when the club offered me a new contract.
I didn't have an agent back then and this is when Roy Keane and Gary Neville pulled me aside after training one day and offered to help with the contract. They were both fantastic. We sat down in the players' lounge and they went through everything with me. Even that was an experience to learn from!
'They wanted to make sure I was getting a fair deal for where I was at in my career and it was actually Roy and Gary who negotiated the contract with the manager on my behalf.'
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| Jones reveals how Gary Neville (left) and Roy Keane (right) offered to help him sign a contract |
With those two players fighting his corner, Jones was offered an improved deal and signed a few days later. 'After I'd signed I bought them both a bottle of wine as a thank you... the cheapest commission I've ever had to pay in my whole career!'
Jones remembers how many of the senior squad members had a big influence on the young players at the club.
'You had Rio Ferdinand, Nicky Butt, Quinton Fortune and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who were all top class international players, but they still had a lot of time for the youngsters coming through.
'One of the reasons the club was so successful at the time was because of the culture that was created by the senior players and manager. There were so many big characters and personalities in the squad whose standards were so high on and off the pitch.'
Since leaving United, Jones has played over 100 times in the Premier League and has achieved four promotions from the Championship with Wolves, Derby and Burnley twice. He has also played for Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday.
Now at the age of 35, he still worked at Manchester United with their media department.
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