Chinese side Shandong Luneng have offered Ashley Young a massive wage hike to take his gross earning to £10 million a year.
According to Warren Haughton of the Sun, Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng have made a massive offer to Manchester United’s frozen out winger Ashley Young. Given their heavy financial backing from the government, Luneng have reportedly agreed to pay the Englishman £10 million a year.
Young joined Manchester United from Aston Villa in 2011 and went on to become a key player for Sir Alex Ferguson’s title winning side in the 2012/13 campaign – which was the Scot’s final season in charge of the Red Devils.
Under David Moyes, Young’s performances began to plummet and he made only 13 league starts in that season. However, Moyes’ successor Louis van Gaal vested tremendous amount of faith in the English winger and he duly repaid the trust by playing a pivotal role, both at left back and on the wings, to help United return to the Champions League.
Under current manager Jose Mourinho, the picture is a tad gloomy for Young. At 31, the Englishman has seen himself fall down the pecking order as the younger wingers have started to show more promise than the former Aston Villa man.
While Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford may not have been at their flying best, their performances have been better than Young’s this season. Even Wayne Rooney has often been deployed as a left winger, putting Young’s future at Old Trafford in great jeopardy.
The likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Mata and Anthony Martial have tasted a lot of first-team action recently, and have made it difficult to allow another winger to pave his way back into the starting eleven.
Much like Young, Memphis Depay too, is struggling to clock regular playing minutes, and is doing everything he can to force a move away from the club. Everton are known to be interested in the player and only time will tell as to whether or not they make a bid for him.
A move from China may have come at the right time in the player’s career. The 31-year-old is not going to get better with each passing season and will start to be more susceptible to injuries, particularly in the Premier League.
In Asia, Young will be one of the star attractions rather than the forgotten man at his club. He will also be offered considerably high wages and could help promote and improve the quality of football in the country.
Former Southampton star Graziano Pelle moved to Luneng in the summer and could be followed by Young in January or come the end of the season.
If the player does not fancy moving to Asia, he could still ply his trade in the England’s top flight. Four Premier League sides including Everton and Swansea were linked with Young in December, and could table an offer for him should he made available by Mourinho.
