FEATURE: WHY ASHLEY YOUNG SIGNING FOR EVERTON MAKES SENSE

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Ashley Young is rumoured to be joining Everton.

The experienced full-back is currently a free agent after Aston Villa decided against offering him a new contract.

Meanwhile tomorrow will mark exactly 300 days since the Toffees made a signing in the form of Eldin Jakupovic, who was hastily brought in on a free transfer from Leicester City and didn’t make a single appearance before leaving for Los Angeles FC in January.

Since then, he is one of 12 first-team players to have departed Goodison Park and Everton’s squad has rarely looked as threadbare as it does right now.

This article will aim to explain exactly why the signing of Young would be mutually beneficial to both parties.

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The proposed transfer has drawn the ire of many Evertonians on social media with the obvious point of contention being Young’s age – he celebrates turning 38 today.

It is hardly being suggested that his purchase will be the definitive answer to the ever-mounting list of problems within Sean Dyche’s side. However, he surely does represent one of the more desirable free agents currently on the market and is someone who has seen and done a lot as a player.

On top of that, Young is not just a name whose career is over the hill. He made 29 league appearances for the Villains last season, playing a key role in an eventually successful European charge under the stewardship of manager Unai Emery.

And people will ask if that was the case, why did the West Midlanders let him go? And the simple, and somewhat brutal, answer is that a club on the rise like Villa don’t need to keep a player like Young around and have the resources to sign a younger, shinier player in his place. Whereas Everton’s reckless spending down the years means they do not possess such luxuries and so the absence of any transfer fee for a player of Young’s calibre represents a very enticing proposition to the Blues.

Additionally, the wage of £50,000 a week Young was estimated to be earning at Villa would slot him very neatly into the rest of the squad’s earners and would almost certainly provide good value based on how often he is likely to be used in the upcoming campaign. He could potentially be willing to accept a smaller salary for the opportunity to continue playing top-flight football at his age.

Perhaps the biggest tick next to his name is his versatility. The former Manchester United man has played a lot of his career at left-back, a position where the Toffees are in desperate need of cover, but also filled in at right-back while Matty Cash was out with a calf injury last season. And while his speed is not what it once was, Young would still be a more than capable deputy on either wing. Everton supporters will hardly need reminding of a match at Goodison in December 2008 in which he terrified the home defence and earned Villa a dramatic winner.

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A 38-year-old Ashley Young is hardly the most attractive of signings but needs must for Everton right now.

Any money the Toffees may have in their transfer kitty urgently needs to be put towards bolstering their limp attack and so the prospect of signing an experienced utility man who has seen it all in the Premier League on a free transfer is an opportunity the club simply cannot turn their noses up at.

Already renowned for his work ethic and potentially a little wounded from something of a snub by a club he has given so much to, Young will be itching to prove he can still perform at the highest level and while admittedly in a bad place right now, Everton’s name still carries a lot of weight and gives him the desirable opportunity to prove himself and win the adoration of a similarly passionate fanbase.

Ashley Young signing for Everton is a transfer that makes sense.