Ashley Young by name if not by nature it seems.
It was quite a weekend for the former England international as he was linked with a move to Everton while also celebrating his 38th birthday. Now it appears that deal will become reality, with a medical set for Tuesday.
The ECHO understands Everton had been looking at Young as one of several transfer possibilities. Talks have progressed and he is closing in on Blues switch, having turned down offers from elsewhere including other Premier League sides.
It is believed Young will join Everton on a one-year contract, with the option for a further year. The free agent signing could be wrapped up within 48 hours.
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If all goes to plan and Young does arrive at Goodison Park he would make history as the club’s oldest-ever outfield debutant. Indeed, by the time this summer’s transfer window closes, Richard Gough (39 years, 23 days) would be the only older outfield player to have turned out for the Blues in the Premier League full stop than Young.
However, despite his relatively advanced years – Young, who is comfortable in both full-back positions having also played on the wings earlier in his career – still turned out 32 times for Aston Villa in 2022/23.
Also last season, centre-back pair James Tarkowski and Conor Coady, both 30, were affectionately known as ‘The Dads’ within the dressing room because of the position as senior players and more mature outlook but – unlike Sean Connery who had Harrison Ford play his son in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade despite the leading man being less than a dozen years his junior – Young is genuinely old enough to be the father of the younger members of Everton’s squad.
Just what should we expect from 38-year-olds though? Well, that was the age at which Roger Milla starred for Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy and it’s also the age at which David Moyes started his 11-year stint as Everton manager.
Away from football, it’s the age at which Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon when Apollo 11 landed on the lunar surface in 1969 and the age of William the Conqueror when he triumphed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and was able to not only claim the throne of England but trade in his previous less-flattering nickname of ‘The Bastard.’
Even though he’s only seven months younger than the Blues’ Under-18s head coach Leighton Baines who retired from playing three years ago, the attraction from the versatility and professionalism that Young is known for at a time when funds at Everton are understood to be tight, might also be accompanied by the fact that Blues boss Sean Dyche knows him personally.
The now 52-year-old Everton manager was in the Watford team when an 18-year-old Young came off the bench and scored a last-minute goal to seal a 3-1 win on his senior debut against a Millwall side featuring Tim Cahill almost two decades ago on Friday December 9, 2003 when Will Young’s Leave Right Now was topping the UK charts.
The pair were team-mates at Vicarage Road for another 18 months before Dyche joined Northampton Town in his home county to finish his professional career.
If Dyche does snap up Young, he could join other Blues bosses who have fielded a former team-mate. Moyes had Kevin Kilbane who used to play alongside him at Preston North End; Joe Royle lined up with Dave Watson at Norwich City.
A trio of former Everton managers have also returned to Goodison Park to take charge of former Blues colleagues: Howard Kendall with both David Johnson and Mick Lyons; Harry Catterick with Tommy E. Jones and Cliff Britton with Stan Bentham, Wally Boyes and Ted Sagar – who was merely five months younger than him.
