Phil Jones is the best young defender in Europe - the Manchester United man is better than Raphael Varane and Marquinhos

Jones scored full marks on the CIES Football Observatory ratings system

(GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United and England defender Phil Jones has been rated the best young centre-back in Europe, according to a football think-tank.

The CIES Football Observatory, based in Switzerland, has given a rating to all players under 23 in Europe's top leagues, scoring them on six 'key performance indicators' - 'rigour', 'recovery', 'shooting', 'chance creation', 'distribution' and 'take on'.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Manchester United man, who hasn't played since 12 April because of injury, scored a perfect 100 to be rated the best on the continent, ahead of talents such as Real Madrid's Raphael Varane and Marquinhos of Paris Saint-Germain.

Two other Premier League players make the top 10 for centre-backs, but they are also surprising in that they play in two of the worst defences in the division - Burnley's Michael Keane and Jores Okore of Aston Villa.

There aren't many other Premier League players on the list, which can be viewed here, whilst Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho all score in the 60s, way below Jones' perfect mark.

Jones played 62 minutes for Manchester United's Under-21 side on Monday and is hoping to be back in time for the game against Crystal Palace.

"I'm happy to play in the Under-21s and get some fitness," he told MUTV. "I feel I'm ready to go again and hopefully I can make the squad on Saturday."