At first it seemed that Aidy Boothroyd and Watford were going to join the rather short list of “small” clubs to fend off the Premiership big boys for their star young player, taking the usual “Hands Off” stance when it came to Ashley Young. But over the past few days it seems like the opportunity to make a shedload of cash has taken priority,
“Six clubs are now after Ashley, but Saturday’s will not be his final game,” Boothroyd insisted.
“But if he comes to me and says he would like to go, we would have to get an awful lot of money for that to happen.”
If you are adamant on holding onto a player, it seems like “No comment” works a lot better than “SIX CLUBS HAVE BID THIS MUCH FOR HIM, COME AND JOIN THE FUN” and as a result clubs like Aston Villa, West Ham, Tottenham, Newcastle and even Liverpool have all been mentioned as bidders from anywhere from 5-7 million.
Young is a decent player, but if he wasn’t English there probably wouldn’t be anywhere near the same level of interest. For upwards of 7 million pounds you’re better off hiring a half decent scout who can find you a similarly talented player on the continent for a tiny fraction of the price.