Ashley Young is in talks with Inter Milan over joining them from Manchester United, according to the BBC.
Young is in the final six months of his contract, which means he is free to talk to prospective suitors outside of England.
But should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be looking to keep the club captain until the end of the season? We’ve had a look at both sides.
The argument for keeping Young
United’s already thin squad has been ravaged by injuries and Solskjaer may well be reluctant to lose anybody this month without a replacement lined up.
BBC quoted him last night saying: “We can’t weaken ourselves, we need to strengthen ourselves, if any movement is going to happen.”
Young is the club captain and at a club which is already lacking leaders, that may be taken into consideration too.
He always gives his all for the cause and that cannot be said for every single player Solskjaer has at his disposal.
United should be able to move on from Young
The departure of a 34-year-old winger who has been converted into a full back should not hit an elite club hard. It is indicative of United’s failings in the transfer market that he is still needed at all.
But after years of stagnation at full back, United actually have decent options there now.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is established at right back, with Diogo Dalot returining from injury to be a promising understudy.
On the other side, Brandon Williams has shot to prominence this season, while Solskjaer retains faith in Luke Shaw.
Ethan Laird is also breaking through, so United should actually be able to cope without Young.
If Young has designs on arranging a deal for the end of the season, he may as well just leave now. The chance to join Inter might not come again for him, this could be a dream scenario for him, with his United exit inevitable.
A looming departure hung over the club in 2014 when then captain Nemanja Vidic agreed a deal in January to join Inter at the end of the season and United shouldn’t let history repeat itself.
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