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Stoke manager Mark Hughes has refused to rule out the club's interest in Manchester United defender Phil Jones.

Hughes did not give a clear answer when he was asked about the possibility of Jones joining Stoke on loan after The Potters were hammered 4-1 at home by Manchester City on Saturday.

Former United striker Hughes is even said to have asked a journalist if Jones was in attendance at the Britannia Stadium.

Jones, 24, has not played for the United first-team since the win over Swansea on January 2 - when he was withdrawn at half-time due to injury - and has been excluded from Jose Mourinho's three matchday squads so far this season.

New signing Eric Bailly, Daley Blind and Chris Smalling are all ahead of Jones in the central defensive pecking order, while Mourinho is interested in Southampton centre-back Jose Fonte and has talked up the potential of 18-year-old academy graduate Axel Tuanzebe.

Marcos Rojo, whom United want to sell, even made the bench ahead of Jones for the wins over Leicester and Bournemouth.

Jones joined United for £16million in 2011 and has collected Premier League and FA Cup winner's medals, however his five years have been blighted by injury and he has failed to settle into a fixed position. Jones has played at right-back, centre-back, defensive midfield and even in an attacking midfield role on one occasion at former club Blackburn.

The England international was not selected for the Three Lions's Euro 2016 squad, despite a paucity of central defensive options.

United have already loaned out Guillermo Varela, Adnan Januzaj and James Wilson, while Donald Love and Paddy McNair were sold to Sunderland.