STEVE Kean has warned Arsenal that Blackburn Rovers have no intention of selling Phil Jones this summer – but he remains braced for further interest in the 19-year-old.

Jones may return to the Rovers starting line-up when they face the Gunners in a Premier League clash at the Emirates this evening, having made his comeback from a three-month injury lay-off as a substitute against Blackpool two weeks ago.

The Rovers youth team graduate has become a key player at Ewood Park and has attracted interest from a number of the Premier League’s big boys in the past year.

Rovers rejected an £8m bid from Arsenal in August before receiving further enquiries from several clubs in January, with Chelsea said to be among them.

Kean is realistic that interest in Jones is likely to continue - even though the player signed a new five-year contract only two months ago - but insists that financial backing from new owners Venky’s means that Rovers have no plans to sell.

Arsenal have also been linked with Chris Samba in the past and, on the subject of the Gunners’ interest in Jones, Kean said: “I hope they don’t come back but all the big clubs I’m sure will come and try to take Phil in the future.

“I hope he stays here, though. He signed a five-year contract and he’s back a lot sooner than we thought.

“At first we thought he was going to be out for the whole season but he’s back with eight games to go and I think he showed that drive and that spark when he came on against Blackpool.

“Hopefully he can stay clear of any other injuries and be a big part of what we want to do.

“The good thing from our point of view with players like Chris Samba and Phil Jones is that they’ve both signed five-year contracts.

“Hopefully they will see out those contracts and be a big part of what we want to do in these eight games and also in the future.

“In the past, as part of the financial state the club was in, the club had to sell players.

“The owners now have a financial stability where they don’t have to sell players.

“That’s going to be massive for us that every two or three seasons we don’t have to sell two or three players to keep our head above water.

“That’s going to be really important if we can try to hold on to the likes of Phil Jones and Chris Samba.”

Jones did not play for England’s under 21 team last week because he had only just returned from injury, but he is due to be a pivotal player at the UEFA Under 21 Championships in Denmark in June and Kean has confirmed that he has no objection to his player taking part in the tournament.

Controversy over whether the likes of Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll will feature in the summer has caused national debate in recent days.

“I’d probably think that playing in the summer would do him good,” said Kean.

“He’s been out for a number of months and he’ll come back for these games and if he’s going to be called up then I think that will be a good thing for Phil.

“He’s developed so quickly and I wouldn’t be surprised if all the big clubs are hovering around him.

“But hopefully he sees that we’re going in the right direction and he’s a big part of it.

“Hopefully in the next couple of years he’ll captain us and push himself into the England squad.”