Man United stars hail the capture of England Under 21 defender Jones from Blackburn

Phil Jones insisted he has been given a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' after sealing his dream move to Manchester United.

After a couple of late hitches, the England Under 21 defender's switch from Blackburn went through on Monday and he will sign a five-year deal when he returns from the European Championship in Denmark.

United issued a statement saying they were delighted to land Jones, who passed a medical last week. They will pay £16.5million for the 19-year-old, who used his Twitter account to speak about the challenge that awaits him.

'Once in a lifetime': Phil Jones (centre) could not turn down Man United

Potential: Chris Smalling (right) is excited about his partnership with Jones

'I'd just like to start off by saying that I've loved my time at Blackburn and I will always be a huge fan,' he said. 'But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am looking forward to a new challenge.'

Jones was warmly welcomed by new colleagues Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, who used the same website to hail his arrival at Old Trafford and send the defender messages of support.

Chris Smalling was also thrilled the deal for Jones had gone through and hopes, given time, they will replicate the impressive centre-half partnership they have shown for the Under 21s. Both excelled in Sunday's 1-1 draw against Spain.

Smalling said: 'It's brilliant that Phil and I will be at the same club. I've really enjoyed playing with him and it's hard to think he's only 19, so hopefully we can play together for a few years.

'I'd like to think we've both got a bit of both (Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand) in our games. The manager (Stuart Pearce) wants us both to attack and also not to give the striker an inch, and in the second half (against Spain) we were stepping forward another yard.

'Phil and I have been playing together for many of the games. Jonah's come in, done really well and we've been able to set our stall out. A couple more clean sheets and that'll hopefully see us through to the knockout stages.'

Blackburn had hoped to secure a fee in the region of £22m for Jones but the £16.5m bid from United triggered a clause in his contract. Despite renewed bids by Liverpool to hijack the deal, Sir Alex Ferguson stole a march on his rivals.

According to manager Steve Kean, Rovers made Jones a staggering offer to stay but he had his heart set on joining United.

'Phil wants to play Champions League football now,' Kean said 'We gave it a real good try but I understand why he wants to go.'