Manchester United midfielder David Jones is close to completing a move to Derby County.

It’s official, and it sucks.

ManUtd.com’s carrying a confirmation of the story, and there’s nothing new in there from what we heard earlier this week, except that everyone’s waiting for Ferguson to comment and explain why one of Manchester United’s most promising young talents is being shipping out.

Jones (22) has agreed personal terms with Derby County and after his medical today, should be signed on loan (so he can play in the Saturday game, as Derby initially wanted) and is expected to complete a permanent move away from Manchester United when the January transfer window opens.

Perhaps the most damning statement about Jones’ potential future at Manchester United, had he stayed, was this:

Jones has made just three appearances during his Reds’ career since joining as a trainee on 1 July 2003.

In the first Manchester United podcast, they talked about how David Jones had went through specific sprinting training so that he could be at par with his teammates in the speed stakes.

The current switch makes me wonder what Ferguson really though of Jones – not good enough to replace Carrick and Scholes in midfield Is the youth system at United strong enough to push through talented players to the first team And if Jones is going, what about the rest of Manchester United’s future cast Foster, Evans, Pique, Bardsley, Simpson, Martin and Rossi – what will happen to them Like Jones, Evans looked extremely promising, as did Pique, Bardsley, Martin and Rossi.

Bottom line – was Jones good enough to play for Manchester United

The sad bit is, we’ll never know now. He wasn’t given the chance, and whenever he was played (cup games) Manchester United were so godawful that no one escaped with any credit.

Granted, the decision was made on the training ground and if Jones is not of the same calibre as Scholes and Carrick, then United don’t need another squad player like Fletcher.

But without being given a decent chance