Former England international Ashley Young has shared insights into his move from Manchester United to join Antonio Conte`s Inter Milan in 2020. He revealed that despite having a last-minute opportunity to remain at Old Trafford, he chose the switch to San Siro.
Young departed United at the age of 34, with six months remaining on his contract. He initially signed a six-month deal with Inter, which was later extended for the 2020-21 season. During that campaign, the Nerazzurri secured their first Serie A title in over a decade.
Speaking recently on Sky Sports, Young highlighted a phone call from Conte as a pivotal factor in his decision. Conte assured him he would be a regular starter at San Siro, a promise that was key to convincing him to leave Manchester United, where he was serving as club captain at the time.
Conte`s Influence and Competition at United
The English player also explained that competition for places from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw within the Manchester United squad had reduced his first-team opportunities prior to his move to Inter.
Young disclosed that United subsequently presented a late contract offer in an attempt to prevent him from joining Inter. However, the versatile player had already finalized his decision by that point.
“I don’t think there’s ever a player that plays for Manchester United that ever wants to leave,” Young stated on Sky. “But, at the time, I was club captain of the biggest club in the world.”
“But for me, and speaking to Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] at the time, Aaron Wan-Bissaka had come in, I was playing as the right-back. [Solskjaer] said that [Wan-Bissaka] was going to play more and more.”
“I was playing as a left-back as well. Luke Shaw was playing, they’re both fantastic players. I’ve got so much respect for both the players.”
“For me at the time, I could have stayed there. But it was one of them things where I’d heard of the interest from Antonio Conte. And at 34 years old, thinking I could stay here and be club captain but not play, or go to another league and play for a man that literally came on the phone and said to me ‘you’re coming here to play, this is it, I want you to play on my team’.”
“I don’t want to just sit,” Young continued. “A lot of people will say you could have sat there and picked up your money, for me, it’s playing football, that’s what I grew up on. As a kid, I always wanted to play football and have success.”
“Inter were top of the league when I went there. They were going to ride the success and then the next season we won Serie A.”
“I’d already made my mind up that I was going to go to Inter. [Manchester United] then offered me a deal. They could have done it sooner. If they really did want it to happen then they would have offered me the deal sooner.”
“But for me, I was happy, I’m glad I made the move to Inter. I won out there and won a title.”
