Ashley Young pens Everton deal after Aston Villa departure

Former Aston Villa star Ashley Young has joined his fourth English club, signing with Sean Dyche’s Everton.

The veteran full-back returned to Villa Park for a second spell after leaving Inter Milan in 2021 and was a dependable presence across his 57 appearances in all competitions.

Despite being one of the surprise stars at Villa last season, Unai Emery chose not to offer him a new deal and he was announced as an Everton player on Thursday morning.

Young is already very familiar with Toffees boss Dyche as the former Burnley manager was his captain when Young was bursting onto the scene with Watford.

He will bring crucial experience, a winning mentality and consummate professionalism to an Everton team that has flirted with relegation in recent seasons.

A crucial lesson

Young’s arrival at Everton is excellent news for them, but the manner of his second Villa Park departure rightly left some fans upset.

The 38-year-old went into the final game of last season not knowing whether he was staying, so he told fans after the match that he would like to stay.

Despite this, no contract offer was forthcoming, and it was announced just a week later that he would be leaving the club.

A decision could surely have been communicated to the player and fans ahead of the game, allowing him to get the send-off he deserved.

Instead, all he got was a couple of social media posts and he had to say goodbye via Twitter instead of in person with thousands of fans.

Sentimentality plays a diminishing role in football these days, but instances like this are becoming depressingly common.

A similar instance occurred at Manchester United, with the club deciding to release David De Gea after 12 years of service after spending months dallying on a contract offer.

Even as the modern game evolves, beloved players deserve to be treated with more respect than this.