Former Manchester United winger Ashley Young has detailed the conversation he had with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that ultimately led to an exit from Old Trafford.
Young joined Inter Milan in January 2020, spending the remainder of the season with the Serie A outfit and then being tied down for the current campaign - where he has won the league title alongside former United teammate Romelu Lukaku.
An exit from United came on the back of nearly a decade with the club, where he won all the domestic trophies available to him as well as the Europa League.
While United wanted to keep Young, putting a contract offer on the table for the experienced former England international, he ultimately left in search of more regular playing time.
Now, Young has revealed that the decision came on the back of a conversation with Solskjaer, where the United boss was honest about his position in the squad.
“I sat down with Ole at the time and said to him what my chances are going to be here this season playing. He’s a truthful person, I understood everything he was saying to me and he said they were going to be limited," he told Sky Sports.
"Me, I could have sat there and there was a contract put on the table after it was known there was interest from abroad. I don’t know whether for me it was like an afterthought, but I’d already made my mind up.
"To go and join one of the biggest teams in Inter Milan and being told you’re going to play week-in, week-out, it was literally saying to my representatives, let’s get the deal done.
“The fact that Antonio Conte wanted me when he was at Chelsea as well, I think that had a pull and the fact that Rom (Lukaku) kept ringing me when he heard of the interest, saying: ‘Get here, get here now’, it was one of those things, it was a big decision but I made that decision pretty much straight away.”
A return to the Premier League could be on the cards for the 35-year-old, who sees his contract at the San Siro expire this summer and newly-promoted Watford are keen on a reunion.
