Ashley Young: Staying or going?

[KevinGage]

He's not found the form of a couple of years ago, but before you even get into the footballing reasons,  selling Ashley Young would send out entirely the wrong message coming after doing the same with Barry and Milner.

I tend to agree, that's my biggest concern in all of this.

But if there is a shred of truth to any of this (and as it's only been reported on Talksport I'd say we're still well and truly in BS country at this point) a lot will depend on how we would go about replacing him.

Tottenham have sold their best players in recent years but have kept the thing moving by signing other big names. If we do likewise, as painful as it is initially we might be better for it in the long run. If we (or more accurately RL) banks the money and just packs the squad out with filler we'd deserve all the criticism we'll inevitably get.

I actually think signing Downing back in 2009 was  a contingency for this kind of thing, possibly a rare example of MON being proactive rather than reactive after the event.

Given a straight choice I'd still want Ash to stay regardless, but we're in a healthier position squad wise to just about wear it. Two decent wingers in Downing and Albrighton and Stephen Ireland who would probably be more suited to the off the forward role he currently plays.

[Concrete John]

We've done OK with our 'big' players leaving as they've gone to Man City, so we've gotten over the top money for them and the deals have benefitted the club.  The problem with Ash is his contract is running down and unless Man City do come in again, I think we're unlikely to get a fee big enough to recruit an adequate replacement. 

[g_man_r]

I'd hate to see Ashley leave, for me it would be another disaster. On his day he is still our best player and there are few out there as good as him. He supported Arsenal as a kid so if they bid in Jan for him he will probably be gone 

[Mazrim]

So whose ITK dad is bigger then?

sadly ego has got in the way of facts

You need to wind your neck in a bit.

Its nothing to do with ego, so kindly knock it off.
If whatever you heard differs to what I was told, how? And what makes your info more reliable?
As everything I was told came to pass and tallies up (not just regarding Young), I'll stick with that thanks.

Alas, I dont have access to that source of info any more as the player, whose family I am friends with, no longer has any ties to Villa.

And I was calling stevenjos sad sack, which I thought was pretty obvious.

[N'ZMAV]

I reckon he'll sign a new deal once he sees what the club does in January. If it gets towards the end of Jan and we've done nothing, he might push for a move.

[eastie]

If he wants to go he will go- the ball is in his court and sadly I think he will go , maybe to Liverpool as they have money and are crying out for a quality wide player.
However, he has been a great player for us and I'm sure we will move on without him if necessary as we have since other stars have left us- the days of players staying 10 yrs or so at clubs are dwindling and the modern stars have everything in their favour.

[badluckeric(gates)]

Hope this is bullshit:
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/11/17/arsenal-to-break-transfer-record-to-sign-18m-winger-ashley-young-in-january/

[CJ]

Like most people I would be disappointed to see Ash go but believe he will, hence why he's 'delayed' signing so he can 'concentrate on his game'.  He's the one player who can really give you a buzz when he gets the ball and takes players on.  But having said that I don't think we would miss him as much as we would have done a couple of seasons ago. His form has dipped, his delivery from set pieces isn't as good as it was, and personally I think he's wasted in his current role behind the main striker as I think his best place is wide left. We have Albrighton on the right, Downing in his natural position on the left, and exciting young players in the middle (Bannan, Delph etc) to pick the passes.  So if he doesn't want to sign, let's get some decent money for him which I would trust Houllier to spend more wisely than MON would have done.

[Merv]

I don't think anything would happen until the summer, if at all.

Say it's Arsenal: unless their season is being seriously derailed - and so far it's ticking along nicely, on course for CL football again at least - I can't see why they'd break their transfer record to sign a player who operates in positions they are very well covered for. In January, given his contract situation, Young would be around £4-6m more expensive.

Come the summer, Young will be entering the final year of his contract, his value comes down, his options really open up. That's when the move will be more likely IMO.

So far we've had unsubstantiated stories on Talksport, and now the mighty caughtoffside.com, which would have taken the 'story' from Talksport, so I'm not concerned too much. Right now, at least.

[Dante Lavelli]

Was reading some comments below the Caughtoffside page which may explain arsenal's interest (ignoring the fact that the sources so far a dubious to say the least). 

Apparently Arshavin is not signing a new contract and is getting old-ish (certainly by Arsenal standards).  Add in that Rosiky is also old and injury prone that would leave Nasri and Walcott as wide attacking players.  I think Nasri is destined to play more centrally so there is potentially a gap on their wings in the next year or so.

In addition most of arsenal's current crop of youngsters appear to be more defensive in nature (wilkshire, Gibbs, the exception being Lansbury - but he is probably not read yet).

Lets face it, Arsene is the sort of cunning fox that would prioritise buying players for the season after next rather than buying expensive plasters to cover any current injury crisis.

[Dribbler]

Personally i think that after the summer we have had he is waiting to see what we do as a club and is looking for signals of intent as to how we intend to progress. A good finish this year and some quality players coming in, either in January or at the start of the summer, would possibly convince him to stay.

If he decides to go then fair enough, whilst i wouldn't want to sell him, we will continue without him and someone else will step up to the plate. A good player, yes, irreplaceable, no.

If he stays at Villa he will get good money, a regular starting place, and will probably get to play in the centre where it would seem he wants to play. It is unlikely however that we will be able to offer him Champions League football. If he goes to Arsenal he certainly wouldn't get more money, it is unlikely that he would play in his favoured position if indeed he started all of the games. He would however almost certainly get Champions League football. If he goes to them then, at least he will go for the right reasons, to play a higher level of football for a team he supported as a kid.

[Yeltzer]

He'll stay until the summer at least.

[hawkeye]

So whose ITK dad is bigger then?

sadly ego has got in the way of facts

You need to wind your neck in a bit.

Its nothing to do with ego, so kindly knock it off.
If whatever you heard differs to what I was told, how? And what makes your info more reliable?
As everything I was told came to pass and tallies up (not just regarding Young), I'll stick with that thanks.

Alas, I dont have access to that source of info any more as the player, whose family I am friends with, no longer has any ties to Villa.

And I was calling stevenjos sad sack, which I thought was pretty obvious.

thanks for clearing that up, thanks for the advice, i cant be bothered to argue with you, its pretty sad that putting information on here usually leads to attacks, so best fall in line and agree with everbody

[Joel]

[Toronto Villa]

So whose ITK dad is bigger then?

sadly ego has got in the way of facts

You need to wind your neck in a bit.

Its nothing to do with ego, so kindly knock it off.
If whatever you heard differs to what I was told, how? And what makes your info more reliable?
As everything I was told came to pass and tallies up (not just regarding Young), I'll stick with that thanks.

Alas, I dont have access to that source of info any more as the player, whose family I am friends with, no longer has any ties to Villa.

And I was calling stevenjos sad sack, which I thought was pretty obvious.

thanks for clearing that up, thanks for the advice, i cant be bothered to argue with you, its pretty sad that putting information on here usually leads to attacks, so best fall in line and agree with everbody

Be careful Maz. He'll be calling you Mazrin, Muzrim or something equally side splittingly hilarious before too long. Watch, he'll respond to this by calling me Tonto and he'll be killing himself typing furiously in his Toy Story 3 pyjamas hidden away at his mum's house because you questioned his logic.