Veteran Manchester United superstar Ashley Young will be leaving the club to join Inter Milan, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that seasoned campaigner Ashley Young is on the brink of completing a transfer to Serie A heavyweights Inter Milan.
Young has been with Manchester United since 2011, having signed from Aston Villa and has made 261 appearances for the club, scoring 19 goals and winning numerous trophies in the process. However, the 34-year-old, who was named club captain at the start of the season, has found game time hard to come by in the ongoing campaign.
With Young’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, the veteran Englishman was free to negotiate with foreign clubs over a pre-contract agreement for a free transfer at the end of the season. However, Inter Milan were keen on snapping up the 34-year-old at the earliest possible as manager Antonio Conte sought reinforcements in the wing-back department.
Ole has confirmed that #MUFC defender Ashley Young is on the brink of signing for Inter Milan.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 17, 2020
Reports on Thursday had claimed that Manchester United and Inter Milan had reached an agreement over a €1.5 million transfer fee for Young. And now Solskjaer has confirmed that the former Aston Villa superstar is on the verge of completing the transfer to the Serie A title hopefuls.
Speaking to MUTV, the Manchester United boss said, “Well, to be fair, I think it was for Ashley, you know. He is 35 in the summer and, if he gets a two-year contract somewhere, I think it’s up to him to take that. We weren’t ready to offer that.”
“He’s been a good servant for the club. He’s been captain and he’s won trophies, leagues, cups, but we’ve got players coming through. So it was time now, then. When Ashley’s head and mindset was on ‘yeah, I want to try this’, why not do it now?”
Further elaborating on the transfer, Solskjaer added, “Ashley’s mindset was that he wanted to try a new adventure and he he’s approaching 35 now. He’s done a fantastic job and he’s served this club fantastically. I think it was an opportunity for him that we had to say yes to. We got a transfer fee for someone who’s been so loyal to the club.”
“Good luck. That’s what Manchester United do, you have players for a long time and then they move on and someone else steps in.”
Manchester United were willing to offer only a year’s extension to Young, but Inter’s offer of a two-year deal has swayed the Englishman’s decision in favour of a transfer to Italy. The Englishman is set to become the third Manchester United player to join the Nerazzurri in the past year, following in the footsteps of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez (loan).
Manchester United have gone onto name summer signing Harry Maguire as the permanent club captain in view of Young’s imminent departure.
