Ashley Young

Ashley Simon Young (born 9 July 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger and full-back. Young has joined Sky Sports as a guest pundit for the 2025–26 Premier League season. Young started his career as a winger at Watford and made his first senior appearance in 2003 under manager Ray Lewington. He became a first team regular in the 2004–05 season and was one of Watford's key players in their promotion-winning 2005–06 season. In January 2007, he transferred to Aston Villa for an initial fee of £8 million where he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2009. In June 2011, Young signed with Manchester United for a fee of around £17 million. He won five trophies at United, including the Premier League in 2013, the FA Cup in 2016 and the Europa League in 2017, and was appointed club captain in 2019. In 2020, Young signed for Inter Milan, with whom he won the Serie A title, becoming only the third Englishman to win Italy's top flight league. He returned to his former club Aston Villa in 2021, helping them to a 7th-placed finish in his second season, and subsequently signed for Everton in 2023. In 2025, he signed a one-year deal with Ipswich after being released by Everton. Young earned 39 caps for England between 2007 and 2018, scoring seven international goals. He was part of the squads for UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the latter.