Ashley Young participant in 2018 FIFA World Cup
Ashley Simon Young (born 9 July 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or full-back for Premier League club Aston Villa, where he is club captain.
Young started his career at Watford and made his first senior appearance in 2003 under manager Ray Lewington. He became a first team regular in the 2004–05 season and was one of Watford's key players in their promotion-winning 2005–06 season. In January 2007, he transferred to Aston Villa for an initial fee of £8 million where he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2009. In June 2011, Young signed with Manchester United for a fee of around £17 million. He won five trophies at United, including the Premier League in 2013, the FA Cup in 2016 and the Europa League in 2017. In January 2020, Young signed for Inter Milan, with whom he won the Serie A title, becoming only the third Englishman to win Italy's top flight league.
Young earned 39 caps for England between 2007 and 2018, scoring seven international goals. He was part of the squads for UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the latter.2017–2018
After not being called up to the national team for almost four years, Young was recalled by Gareth Southgate for the upcoming friendly matches against Germany and Brazil on 2 November 2017. He featured in the latter game on 14 November, coming on for Ryan Bertrand in the 80th minute, seeing out a 0–0 draw.Young was named in Southgate's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He was England's first-choice left-back in Russia, playing the entirety of their first two group matches against Tunisia and Panama. With qualification for the knockout stage secure after winning both matches, Young was rested for the final game against Belgium, before returning for the round of 16 tie against Group H winners Colombia. That match went to extra time, but Young was replaced by Danny Rose 12 minutes into the additional period and played no part in the penalty shoot-out after the match finished as a 1–1 draw. England won 4–3 on penalties and progressed to a quarter-final against Sweden, against whom Young again played the full 90 minutes as England won 2–0, with Young providing the assist for Harry Maguire's opening goal from a corner. In the semi-final against Croatia, Young again started the match, but was again replaced by Rose at the start of extra time, with the score at 1–1 after 90 minutes. England ultimately lost the match 2–1 after extra time, and Young did not play in the third-place play-off against Belgium.
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