Man United would commit a huge blunder by offering Ashley Young a new contract
According to the Mirror, Ashley Young wants a new two-year contract that would keep him at Old Trafford till 2021.
The 33-year-old full-back, who currently earns £110,000-a-week, was only offered a one-year extension to his contract in March last season and he will be out of contract next summer.
Young is not the only Manchester United player who will be out of contract next summer with as many as eleven players who are yet to commit their future to the club.
Antonio Valencia, Juan Mata, David de Gea, Anthony Martial and Ander Herrera are amongst the players whose contracts are set to expire next summer, something which should be a major cause of concern for the management.
Ashley Young was signed back in the 2011-12 season from Aston Villa and he is currently one of the longest-serving players at Old Trafford along with Chris Smalling and David de Gea. He was also given the captain’s armband against Juventus in the absence of club captain Antonio Valencia.
Despite being linked to a host of players in the summer, United only managed to sign Diogo Dalot, Fred and Lee Grant, none of whom has played a significant role in the season so far.
To be honest, Ashley Young hasn’t been in the best of form this season for the Red Devils. Operating as a right-back, not only has he been poor defensively but he also seems to have lost the ability to deliver quality crosses into the box on a consistent. He was a player defined by pace, agility and crossing in his earlier days but he seems to have lost his mojo now.
In fact, Jose Mourinho has shown a lot of confidence in Ashley Young, much to the surprise of many. He was entrusted with the job of keeping Eden Hazard at bay and the 33-year-old was up against it once again when he had to deal with Cristiano Ronaldo down the left.
Although United managed to rescue a point with a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and lost by a slender margin to Juventus, Young was exposed badly in both the games.
In fact, to say that he was exposed would be an understatement. He was actually humiliated by the Hazard and Ronaldo and both of them toyed with him and ripped him apart inside out with their pace and guile. In the process, Young could only stick his foot out helplessly and picked up a booking.
Suffice to say, Young has lost most of his razor-sharp anticipation skills and reflexes at the age of 33 and he is no longer the player that used to win games for United with consistent performances. Moreover, Antonio Valencia is also 34 and United should be wary of the danger of having too many ageing full-backs in their squad.
To say that Young is a liability for the club would be a bit harsh given that he has been a regular member of the squad for a long time.
However, his presence has not allowed the likes of Matteo Darmian and new signing Diogo Dalot to get enough regular minutes. Dalot is a promising young offensive-minded right-back with a huge potential and United should focus more on preparing him as a first-team material for the future.
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With all due respect to everything that he has done for the club, Ashley Young is clearly past his prime and offloading him in the summer would do a world of good for them. They shouldn’t make the mistake of offering him a new contract as they already have a lot to worry about the contract situations of some of the other players.
