Young: I've Still Got a Lot to Give On and Off the Pitch Monday, 8th Sep 2025 10:02 by Kallum Brisset Town full-back Ashley Young believes he still has plenty to offer on and off the pitch following his free transfer to Portman Road over the summer. The 40-year-old is into his 23rd season in professional football, having left Premier League side Everton in June despite featuring in all but four league matches last term. After relegation last season, the Blues’ clear objective is to make an immediate return to the top flight, a target that Young insists he is capable of playing a big part in. Asked if he still feels he has a lot to give, he said: “Of course I do. I wouldn’t have signed here if I didn’t think that I could do that. The question has been asked for the last five or six years if I could keep doing it. “I knew at the end of last season that I wasn’t ready to retire and knew I still had a lot to give. I still think now I’ve got a lot to give on the pitch and off the pitch, more so for me on the pitch. “I want to be involved as much as I can and whenever the manager calls upon me, I’ll give 100 per cent every time I pull on the Ipswich shirt or in training. I’ll be looking to push non-stop. “There’s plenty of games to play, everybody’s got to be ready when the games come around. I’m no different to that and I’m looking forward to the rest of the games.”  Over the summer, Young was linked to various other clubs, most notably former side Watford for whom he made his debut in 2003 having come through the Hornets’ academy. Young, whose son Tyler has joined the Town development squad on a one-year deal following a trial, had previously worked with Blues’ boss Kieran McKenna in their time at Manchester United, and the former England international cited the Northern Irishman as a key reason for making Suffolk his chosen destination. He said: “I said from the minute I signed and from the time I spoke to the manager. I knew him from when we were at United together. I knew his passion, what he wants to do and what he wants to achieve this season. “I bought into that straight away and I was welcomed with open arms as soon as I got into the training ground by not just the players but the staff as well. You can tell everybody is together here and everybody’s wanting to fight and pull in the same direction. “It’s there, it’s coming. We’ll go away now, have the international break and come back with some big games coming up. We’re looking forward to those games when they come around. “You could tell that he wasn’t going to stop at just being a coach. You could tell he wanted to be a manager and he had all those traits straight away. “He’s got that winning mentality, he’s a winner. You see that day in, day out on the training pitch. I bought into that from the time he was at Manchester United. “With the opportunity to come here, of course I was never going to turn it down. As soon as I heard of the interest, I was always going to sign here.”  Young is far from the only signing at Portman Road this summer, with 11 new arrivals in amongst the Town ranks for the season ahead. Among them are Marcelino Nunez and Sindre Walle Egeli, who arrived on the eve of Town’s home draw with Derby County and are yet to make their debuts for the Blues. “We’ve met them briefly,” Young said following the Rams clash. “We’ve obviously not trained with them yet. “It’s going to be competition for places. They’re two fantastic players that have signed, but the amount of players that we have signed and the players that are in the squad, it’s competition for everybody. “That’s what you want, you want healthy competition which means players have got to be at it day in, day out giving 100 per cent. That’s what the manager expects, he expects everyone to be at it every day. “When you’ve got a squad that is built on hard work and that work ethic, it can only stand you in good stead. “You look at the players that are in the squad and the players that have been added to the squad. Speaking to the manager, the players and the staff, everybody wants to get back to the Premier League. “Everybody had that opportunity last season and it ended in disappointment, but the opportunity is there for the club to get back into the Premier League. “It’s there when you build a squad like we have built, it’s the foundation. The goal is to get back to the Premier League and everybody is thinking that way.”
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