Everton Young
Everton must look to seal a new contract extension for Ashley Young later on this season, after his latest performances.
Young has made himself a mainstay in a defence that has now claimed four clean sheets in their last five, and can be key in maintaining all-important stability as so much around the club changes.
Everton are imminently set to be taken over by The Friedkin Group and will host an emotional departure from Goodison Park in five months’ time, with the likes of Young, 39, able to provide that key style of leadership to help steer the club through.
Young holds the record this season as the oldest outfield player in the Premier League, with only West Ham United goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski – a little under three months his senior – sooner to turn 40.
A new contract for Young would take him into his forties as a Premier League player, provided the Toffees ensure they get the minimum job done and remain a top-flight outfit to head over to the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium.
Ashley Young ever-green for Everton
Young, alongside 36-year-old club captain Seamus Coleman, each signed fresh one-year deals in the summer to add key pedigree and seniority to Sean Dyche’s squad.
Coleman – at the club for what will soon be 16 years – has been injured for a sustained period, which has seen Young fill in as the regular right-back, performing to the level he once did many years ago though this time in a much less attacking area.
Many understandably doubted the 39-cap England international early on in the season, when he was sent off against Brighton on the opening weekend for a last-man foul and later part of a defence who were at times all at sea.
However, he has replenished his performances admirably when so many had written him off, and is now part of what has become a trademark robust Dyche unit – exemplified in the goalless draw at Arsenal on Saturday [14 December].
Everton Goodison Park
Goodison Park, the home of Everton [Credit: Imago]
The FA Cup continues its magic by pitting Everton against Peterborough United in this season’s third round, an unglamorous tie until it is realised Young will potentially face his son, Tyler, in a professional match.
If that doesn’t offer some perspective on how well Young has preserved himself as the “unbelievable” professional fellow defender James Tarkowski recently branded him, nothing will.
In other Everton news, why it could be the last-chance saloon for this Toffees star as his teammate is ruled out.
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