Where will Ashley Young fit in at Manchester United? Here are the options…

ANALYSIS
By Jonathan Birchall

After David Villa sumptuously put the final nail in Manchester United‘s coffin at Wembley on the May 28 and Sir Alex Ferguson saw Pep Guardiola hold the Champions League trophy aloft, the Scot knew that if he is to throw a spanner in the works of the Catalan carousel, serious reinvestment would be required at Old Trafford.

Now, with Ashley Young set to sign for around £17 million, the Premier League champions are making serious moves to become the continent’s finest once again.

In Young, United look set to sign a 25-year-old whose goal and assist contribution equated to over one every other game for Aston Villa last season.

Finding the back of the net nine times and setting up others to do so on 14 occasions, the winger was a small ray of light in an otherwise disappointing season in the Midlands.

It is fair to say that excitement from United fans has been fairly muted regarding the potential acquisition of a man who only a fortnight ago looked just as likely to join Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool.

This is in no way a slight on the ability of the midfielder who arrived at the Villans from Watford in January 2007, but more a recognition that the Red Devils, although champions, are lacking in other areas of the pitch.

With Paul Scholes having retired and the inability of United to quell Barcelona’s midfield still at the forefront of the minds of United supporters, the fear that Young, primarily a winger or suited to a free role behind the strikers, is not what is needed at the Theatre of Dreams.

Indeed, the transfer window will remain open for a while yet, and with Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder having been linked to the club in recent weeks, the trepidation of those fans may prove irrelevant when it closes at the end of summer.

But rather than worrying about what is yet to be improved in Ferguson’s squad, United should be looking forward to welcoming a player whose ability may well just match his ever-flowing confidence.

As versatile an attacking player you are likely to see, Young has genuine quality with the ball at his feet and has added an intelligence to his game that can make him seem almost impossible to defend against at times.

On top of that, the England international has an ability from set-pieces that would be unmatched at United. Consistent from both free-kicks and corners, a Red Devils side with the likes of Nemanja Vidic coming forward would certainly benefit from the former Watford man’s prowess from dead ball situations.

However, on joining the Premier League champions, Young will recognise that gaining a spot in the first-team at Old Trafford is not an easy task for any player, regardless of their quality.

Goal.com have taken a look at how he may be able to force his way into Ferguson’s first XI plans.

You can’t help but feel for Nani. Having picked up the Player’s Player of the Season award in 2010-11, the Portuguese looked to have finally broken into the Red Devils’ first-team regularly on the left-hand side.

However, the signing of the Aston Villa man, as well as lingering doubts over his consistency, would suggest that Young would take his place in the side’s familiar and very successful 4-4-2 formation.

The other player likely to miss out in this case is of course Park Ji-Sung, though it is more than possible that the South Korean would be kept in reserve for United’s bigger games.

Four teams were able to do to Barcelona last season what Manchester United couldn’t at Wembley on May 28; beat them.

Three of these four teams, namely Arsenal, Real Sociedad and Hercules all played with a 4-2-3-1 formation and with Ashley Young in the ranks, this could become an option for Sir Alex Ferguson.

With the former Watford man more likely than Nani to track back and assist in creating a five-man midfield when required, as well as having more attacking potency than the tireless Park, it could prove a perfect way of making United a more resilent unit without sacrificing their ability to counter.

Young’s versatility was made clear at Villa Park last season, as he moved from his favoured left wing to the hole between the midfield and forward positions.

This had initially been tested unsuccessfully by Martin O’Neill on the youngster’s arrival from Watford in 2007 but now four years wiser, the 25-year-old has shown in 2010-11 that he has the ability to stretch defences from the middle with both through balls and electric pace, attributes that could prove ideal behind Wayne Rooney and Chicharito.

Having three midfielders behind him would sacrifice on width but would make United less likely to be swamped in big games, as was the case against Liverpool at Anfield and, of course, against Barcelona.

The other three options that have been suggested are of course presuming that Young will be a first-team regular at United.

However, as Dimitar Berbatov, Anderson and Nani have shown in recent years, a large transfer fee doesn’t necessarily equate to a place in Ferguson’s first XI. Young will be battling with Park, Nani, Ryan Giggs and a returning Tom Cleverley from his loan at Wigan for a spot, and with rumours of more activity in the transfer market to come, the uber-confident 25-year-old may well have to prove himself at the club’s Carrington training ground before he can do so at the Theatre of Dreams.