Ashley Young on Manchester United and Spurs radar
Ashley Young, the Aston Villa number 7 might be on his way to making a potential debut in Champions League football after reports that Manchester United are preparing a bid to match Spurs for the England international’s signatures.
While the Aston Villa manager, Gerard Houllier has constantly deflected speculation over the future of his player, the fact that any further negotiations on a contract extension have yet to materialize has alerted potential buyers.
As far as Spurs are concerned, Harry Redknapp has made no attempts in hiding his admiration for the England international’s ability on the field and it could be more than a possibility that the team from White Hart Lane makes an offer come January. However,
the North London team are also reported to be interested in Manchester City player Adam Johnson. Since both players are predominantly wide players, it might be a matter of either than both.
Getting Ashley Young won’t be easy however. Sir Alex Ferguson is willing to splash out as much as £20 million to hijack the deal and exploit Villa’s financial problems to entice Houllier into letting one of his prized possessions leave this term. The reason
why such a signing makes sense for the Red Devils is down to their already lightweight bench further marred by the long term injury to Valencia. Ferguson would ideally want an already established replacement with ample experience in the Premier League for
an assault on the European and local league titles.
With that said, while Aston Villa’s financial problems are no secret; there has been continued talk over Manchester United’s financial muscle as well. However, the United manager was promised funds to spend this term and owing to the fact that their primary
target, the German international playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger has opted to renew his contract with the Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, Ferguson would be thinking of investing in young.
Therefore, the potential prospect of playing against the elites of England would not only enable Young to gain some much needed exposure, but the resulting experience could aid his chances of breaking into the England team’s starting eleven. Houllier too,
as suggested earlier might be able to make some good use of the funds generated from the sale towards rebuilding the squad that he inherited from Martin O’ Neill.
However, if Young does indeed leave the club, the following question is, does he play at White Hart Lane or Old Trafford?
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