Ashley Young talks to Mark Goldbridge about his time leaving Man Utd and shares his side of the story.
On Mark Goldbridge’s show, former Manchester United player Ashley Young spoke out about some past comments from the Red Devils fan and shared his side of the story.
Young didn’t agree with Goldbridge’s reaction to him leaving Manchester United in January 2020, right in the middle of a team injury crisis. Goldbridge had said Young ‘abandoned the club’ by leaving, but Young completely denied this. He wanted to explain what really happened.
Young said, “I had a chat with Ole [Gunnar Solskjær], and he told me, ‘You won’t be playing much.’ I was 34 then, and Inter Milan was interested—they were top in Serie A and playing in the Champions League. So I talked to Ole again and said, ‘I want to play football. I don’t care about my age, I just want to play.’ Even though he made me club captain, I needed more than just sitting on the bench and collecting my paycheck.”
He added that he still had a lot to achieve in football. After asking to leave, Solskjær agreed to the move. “Three days later, Ole said the club wanted to offer me a new deal,” Young said. “But by then, my mind was made up. I wasn’t staying just to hang around.”
Goldbridge asked if this new deal offer was made public at the time. Young replied, “No, people thought I just left the training ground. I wanted to clear that up. I don’t mind the criticism, but when it gets personal, that’s too much. I’d never leave my club if they really needed me. Ole never said I was desperately needed.”
At the studio, Young even read out Goldbridge’s old reaction from 2020: “There’ll be no reaction to Ashley Young leaving Manchester United because I don’t care. He’s just looking after himself and leaving the club and manager short when they didn’t want that. Glad he’s gone, but he let Solskjær down.” Goldbridge admitted he only vaguely remembered saying that.
Their chat made Wayne Rooney laugh, especially since Rooney is set to earn 47% less than his wife on his upcoming ‘I’m A Celebrity’ show, which he joked about while wondering what else was written in that little book.
Young also talked about how the media often leaks stories when the club least expects it. Goldbridge said players and managers must think, “How is this stuff out there, and I’m getting blamed for it?” Young agreed, saying, “It’s crazy. Things come out before they’re officially announced.” Goldbridge added that fans have gotten smarter about realizing these stories aren’t always the full truth.