Ashley Young to join Inter Milan – strangest transfer of the year?
In one of the strangest transfers you will see all year, Ashley Young has reportedly signed a pre-contract agreement with Inter Milan.
Despite being the captain of the biggest football club in England, Manchester United, former England international Ashley Young has spent the better part of the last few years being mocked, tormented, and memed by pretty much every corner of the footballing world.
The 34-year-old was once a quality member of the Manchester United team, after joining Sir Alex Ferguson’s side from Aston Villa back in 2011, but has dwindled away with age, currently serving as a backup fullback who was overly relied-upon as a starter a year or two ago.
While he does not feature regularly anymore, Ashley Young’s career is not over, not even close, and it isn’t even continuing in MLS or China as you might expect.
According to the BBC, Ashley Young has reportedly signed a pre-contract agreement with Inter Milan, who currently lead the Serie A table with 14 wins, 3 draws, and just 1 solitary loss in 18 matches. If true, which it likely is, Young will join the club on July 1st and will turn 35 years old just over a week after that, on July 9th.
Surely, this will go down as one of the strangest transfers we will see this year, and perhaps in our entire recent memory. Ashley Young was once a great footballer, but nobody would have expected this version of him to be suiting up for a team which could potentially be Scudetto winners in just a few months.
The free transfer is becoming more and more popular these days, as clubs look to save themselves from overpaying with massive fees, instead opting for out-of-contract players. In turn, this often means that out-of-contract players attract interest from better clubs than they normally would if they were under contract somewhere else.
If Ashley Young’s current deal expired in 2021 instead of 2020, do you think Inter Milan would be jumping hurdles to get his signature? No chance. However, because he allowed his contract to wind down, Inter clearly sees him as a cheap and acceptable versatile rotation option.
Next. PL clubs should jump on the chance to sign Neuer. dark
Of course, all of this waits for official confirmation from either club or the player, but due to the nature of the source [BBC], and the fact that the source claims it is pretty much official, you can probably expect to see Ashley Young donning the famous Nerazzurri colours this August.