How good can Smalling + Jones go on to be?

When it comes to young centre backs, and an English pairing at that, I don't think the potential get's any better than the 2 we have at the moment.

(Without taking Jonny Evans into account, no disrespect to him I just think the other 2 can offer us more although I do like Evans)

Recently we have Vidic and Rio

We had a great defender in Stam but I can't quite remember if he had a counterpart quite on his level.

Of course Pallister and Bruce who I don't remember.

It's amazing to think that Ferdinand came to us a couple months before turning 24, 3 and a half years later Vidic came to us at 24. We all know it took Vidic a good 6 months to settle in so let's just say by the time we had an effective partnership between the two their respective ages were 28 and 25.

Bruce came to us a few months short of turning 28 whilst 2 years later Pallister came to us at 24 and for the 6-7 years they played together I'm sure they played a pivitol role in the revival of United and I'm sure opinion would be split amongst fans of who had the better partnership.

Now let's talk about Smalling and Jones, 22 and 19. They've already played in a european tournament together and whilst it wasn't the greatest of campaigns the 2 of them done pretty well (from reports I read, I didn't watch any of the matches)

They're both big (funny that at 5"11 Phil looks like a dwarf next to the 6"4 Smalling) they're both strong and what strikes me most is how comfortable they both are on the ball. They have something that perhaps none of the other defensive partnerships have had, and that is to be in the same team as one of the greatest partnerships we've ever had. Instead of learning their trades elsewhere in different clubs, they already have the advantage of playing together at a young age and they both have the advantage of training with the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand every day.

What's more, they're still managing to get a lot of minutes under their belt and I think Phil Jones has played more than any other player this year (Don't hold me to that) They might not be playing in the retrospective positions and they haven't even played a game together at CB this season I don't think although now that Vidic is out for the season, I think they are likely to get their chances.

So taking everything into account, their ages, the playing time they are getting right now, the players they train with, how good can the partnership be?

If they were to fulfil their potential (And I do stress, this is of course hypothetical that they were to fulfil their potential) if everything was to go right for them, if they don't get struck down by injuries, could they go on to be our best defensive partnership?

Bruce and Pallister played together for about 6 years time, Vidic and Ferdinand have been playing together for nearly 6 years now.

In 6 years time, Smalling will be 28, Jones will be 25 and hopefully still have a few years left between them IF everything was to go to plan. So bearing that in mind, could they go on to be the very best we've ever had?

And if they do, how good will that be for England?