New Blues signing Ashley Young says manager Kieran McKenna played a big part in his decision to join Town having left Everton at the end of last season.

Young, 40, who signed for the Blues earlier today on a one-year deal, previously worked with McKenna during the Northern Irishman’s time on the backroom staff at Manchester United.

Asked what persuaded him that Town was the right club for him at this point in his career, Young told TownTV: “I think the manager played a big part in that. I worked with him at United, I know his beliefs, I know what he wants to do for this club, I’ve seen what he’s done with this club as well.

“Obviously it was disappointing last season, but speaking to him before joining, I knew that I wanted to come and play under him. I know how passionate he is about football and what he wants to achieve and that’s to get back to the Premier League.

“He’s a winner. You see that on the training pitch, you see that on the sidelines of the games.

“I’ve seen that day in, day out when I’ve worked with him previously. He was a massive pull, but the club as a whole as well, the fanbase, the players.

“Coming up against Ipswich sides, it’s never easy to play against an Ipswich side. [After] the excitement of last season, there’s definitely something to build on this season to get the club back into the Premier League.”

The former England international, whose son Tyler is currently on trial with the U21s, says McKenna, who has been at Town for three and a half years, hasn’t changed since he left Old Trafford for Portman Road.

“He’s the same,” Young, who was reportedly close to rejoining his first club Watford prior to his move to Town, continued. “You do get managers who come out of the Championship and go to the Premier League who change, but he hasn’t, he’s stayed the same way.

“He’s just the same, he’s still got that hunger, that desire for football, he lives and breathes football. The passion that he shows, it reflects on the players.”

Reflecting on Town, he added: “You can see that the club as a whole is a family club. You can see the players, the passion that they play with on the pitch. They emulate what the fans want to see and the manager is exactly that way as well.

“You see his passion, it runs down, it filters all the way through the club and just being here today, you get that feeling from everyone that’s around the club.

“The project is to get back to the Premier League, it’s that simple. We know it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be tough, especially coming back down from the Premier League.

“But I think everyone has bought into the manager’s ideas, his thought processes of wanting to get the club back.

“When you have a taste of the Premier League, you want more and more of that, so I think everyone’s going to be champing at the bit to get back out there and get back in the Premier League.”

Young has achieved a promotion from the Championship previously, he was in the Hornets side which beat Leeds 3-0 at Wembley in the 2005/06 play-off final, in addition to a Premier League title with United in 2012/13 and winning Serie A with Inter Milan in 2020/21. He also won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup while at Old Trafford.

“When I did it, it was quite a long time ago,” he reflected on the success with Watford, his boyhood club. “The Championship has changed a lot. It takes everything the manager will talk about - togetherness out on the pitch, away from the pitch, being strong together. Everything that you do, it’s all about working hard.

“When you’re in day in, day out, it’s about working hard and you get the success from there.

“The club will know how tough the Championship is. It’s not easy to get out of, but when you’re in the right frame of mind and you’ve got the right focus, then I’m sure it will happen again this season.”

Outlining his role during the season to come, Town’s oldest ever signing added: “To bring my experience, my leadership, not just that but my footballing ability, that’s what I’m here for. I’ve come here to play football.

“A lot will be talked about my age but a lot of football talk is about stats these days and I played 32 Premier League games last season. I couldn’t tell you the stats about how many games I’ll play, but what my focus is on is getting this club back into the Premier League, that’s all I’ve got to focus on now.”

Photo: ITFC

Northstandveteran added 20:54 - Jul 23 Well happy with this :)
16

WestSussexBlue added 20:59 - Jul 23 For someone with his experience and knowledge to immediately recognise and pay this level of respect shows how lucky we are. We will go well again this season because of the quality of Kmc, players, coaches and support from the owners.
17

oioihardy added 21:02 - Jul 23 If hes on cheap wages its a good deal. If hes expensive can't help but think we could of used that money in a player who's coming into or in his prime. Rather then a player who's 6-8 years out of his prime
-8

mutters added 21:14 - Jul 23 To be fair his '6-8 years out of his prime' is still a lot better than a lot of players who are in their prime!
28

Taricco3 added 21:21 - Jul 23 32 premier league appearances last season, hard to argue with that stat - his current fitness and ability must be pretty good.
20

RIPbobby added 21:24 - Jul 23 Fair play to him there in that interview that is quite different to what we normally hear. There are some cliches, but he does actually sound quite an interesting character. He has looked after himself to still be playing at 40. Out younger players will learn a lot from him. Interesting signing.
20

JewellintheTown added 21:24 - Jul 23 I'd say splitting petrol money with his lad in to work was the biggest factor.
3

Phil1969 added 21:37 - Jul 23 This is a crazy signing whatever the cost going forward. We are ditching players at 32/33. Yes he played for a poor team a lot in the Premiership so did a lot of our squad. Another year on where is the sense, does he have something on McKenna. Absolute madness and a waste of money, where are the development signings ?
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MVBlue added 21:47 - Jul 23 40 Bro. Makes him least exciting signing so far. Remember Nigel Reo-Coker.
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bluesissy added 21:59 - Jul 23 Absolute madness....I'm baffled
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Taricco3 added 22:21 - Jul 23 Quality signing for the experience and leadership he will bring.
11

FelixBlue4 added 22:54 - Jul 23 I don’t understand what all the fuss is about if he has come in on 50k a week which I doubt then that’s still only 2.6 million for the year plus maybe a sign on fee. Who else with that sort of experience is going to want to come here. Let’s just support him and the rest of the team next season.
14

bluerico added 22:55 - Jul 23 We should be focussing on defensive midfield and a striker rather than a veteran defender where we have numerous options already.
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Ianseamark added 23:25 - Jul 23 Bluerico He is a winger, midfielder or a full back!
10

blues1 added 23:32 - Jul 23 Phil1969. What are you on about? Hes won 5 major trophies st Man utd, Won SerieA at Milan. And played 32 games in the pl lalst season. And many everton fans are gutted he didn't stay for another year. He will replace some of the experience we've lost, with morsy, Tuanzebe having left. Something we need with the young squad we have. . The only 32/33 year old to have left are Luongo and Morsy. Luongo bxmcse hes not good enough for what we need now. And Morsy, through his own choice. So no, we arent just getting rid of them, as u say.

15

shotleybert added 23:37 - Jul 23 All I will say, despite some. In McKenna we trust.
0

armchaircritic59 added 00:40 - Jul 24 Well, I wouldn't want a whole team of 40yo's but the guy has tremendous experience at a very high level and is obviously still very fit, which is a credit to his dedication and desire, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if later down the line, there's a bit more to this than meets the eye. Welcome to Portman Road Ashley. Shame, it's 2025 and we still live a country with all the " isms ", racism, sexism, ageism, etc.

3

LoveIpswichForever added 02:17 - Jul 24 I don't understand the beef. He's played basically his whole career at the top level. He's a model pro. Brilliant acquisition - whether his impact is front line or mentoring the squad. Likely it will be both. WELCOME ASHLEY! Good luck, and give it your all for our wonderful club. COYB
12

muccletonjoe added 04:17 - Jul 24 One for the future
3

melbs_itfc added 05:11 - Jul 24 Good to see the club is continuing with the policy of only signing Young and hungry players.
3

tetchris added 05:38 - Jul 24 Was McK the massive pull or was it the £50k a week salary he is allegedly being played the real pull here? (Watford offered him £20k a week!). Matusiwa and Kipre look like good signings on paper, Ruiz potentially another one if he could have been convinced to sign, but I’m baffled by this one as it makes no sense. This is the type of signing we used to make under Mick Mc when we were shopping in the bargain basement!

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Hatman2 added 06:19 - Jul 24 With Morsy and Massimo moving on, this is about topping up the experience and leadership voices in the group. 32 games played in the Prem last season. A rotation coming on who can help us get results over the line. Keiran knows his character. It makes sense. People panicking as if there’s nothing else coming in - of course there will be. Young will add value.
7

ArnieM added 06:26 - Jul 24 .....at quite a price id imagine.
0

Rimsy added 07:22 - Jul 24 He was quality against us a few months back. He's not going to play every game, probably giving all the midweek games a miss, but if he can give 30+ games like he did Everton last season, he's a great addition.
6

Bazza8564 added 07:24 - Jul 24 So much nonsense about a free transfer. It's done now thankfully. AY will be a useful addition and has a ton of PL experience Now let's get the Omari deal over the line and see what the club REALLY have in store for us this summer. It will hopefully shut a few up
4

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