Aston Villa are saying goodbye to a genuine legend in Ashley Young

Aston Villa and Ashley Young have parted ways just days after the close the 22/23 season. Just days after it was very-much expected he'll be reupping his stint at the Villa.

Yes, it's unexpected. Yes, it's a little odd. Yes, at the same time it all makes sense - but you can't help but feel sad that a living legend of the club is leaving, and saying goodbye to a team where his second-coming was almost as impactful as his first glorious stint.

It goes that the word 'legend' is overused in football. Some say you can't be a legend for a club without winning anything - an idea that discounts 99% of football teams from respecting their best ever players.

Ashley Young is an Aston Villa legend, and one of our best ever players. He's up there with the very best to have ever played football at the club. Disagree? Go back to the late 00's and ask any child what they thought of him.

Go back to 2022, and ask anyone who left that Man City game what they thought of him.

Two different opinions emerge there, with the same conclusion. Ashley Young is a genius, who makes football fun by winning games on his own. Ashley Young is a horrible shithouse who can save points on his own.

Two stints, defined in two different ways.

Before Jack Grealish there was Youngy. A wizard on the ball, with the capability to drop his shoulder and do anything. In fairly rigid formations, Young unlocked capabilities for Villa sides. Concentrate on Young too much? Gabby is in behind. Back down? He's already aiming for Carew's head. Take him on? He's just won the free-kick he will score. Ashley Young was a cheat code, and in the same way that Michael Vick was a video-game quarterback, Young was a video-game footballer. He had the speed to thrill, the mentality to cut teams to the bone and the desire to combine all of that and leave the opposition gasping.

When he took a free-kick against Blackburn (shaming Beckham MKII in David Bentley) you were already standing. And so you were when he cut in against Blues and heaped more misery on our cross-city rivals on one of their worst ever days. Once more, you did it when he strode amidst a railgun to beam across the pitch to end Everton with the most unexpected lightning strike winner of all time.

When something went down, Young was usually at the centre of it.

He left the club in fairly negative circumstances, and the club simply did not build on the promise of the profit he pulled in. His move to Manchester United brought fume.

His return raised eyebrows.

There was seemingly very little point in a Young comeback at Aston Villa. Aging, with an ill-defined position after a stint at Inter Milan, what could've been a huge misjudgement turned out to be of the club's finest decisions.

When Young, the athletic boy joined and left Villa, the club ended up welcoming a hardy warrior - victor of hundreds of battles - as a vetera

Young 2.0 at Villa couldn't do much wrong. He was a brutish tackler. Every Alan Hutton-esque barrel roll into the opposition brought his chant to a crescendo in the Holte End. He loved to bicker and interfere with referees and opponents. He wasn't the same player, he didn't do the same things and he barely seemed the same man. He had changed and in all the right kind of ways.

An acrobatic athlete became the gritty utilitarian bedrock of a side that needed it. Under Unai Emery, there's a lot of tactical work at play - but it's underpinned by the matchday instructions of treating it like a game. It's fun.

And Young certainly had fun in his claret twilight. He relished it all, didn't he? He found enjoyment in timewasting and lashing out, rather than dynamic wing-play. He settled for the job he had left, and thrived.

He was our perfect footballer - not because of his ability, but his drive to do his job, After years of being called on to be the difference because of his flair and ability, he was then called on to make a difference with his experience, poise and attitude.

He succeeded on both counts.

Personally, I'm gutted he didn't get the chance to say goodbye, properly. I'm gutted there was the chance he could stay and perform.

It's that thing right? Is football simply just about cropping the margins in every season? Realigning constantly? Is it that thing where it's simply a spreadsheet decision and cutting Young makes a red number go green?

The reason I 'moan' so much about club issues, is because I still believe community is at the core of the football experience. Without that, it's a veneer. Without the characters like Young sticking around, football is a little bit less fun.

I mean, you can't knock the club too much here. There's player registration issues, a new squad project, wages etc to consider - it just sucks a little that a player who could still offer something more, and one who was universally beloved, is leaving before he is truly done.

There's plenty of angry little fellas at Villa who can continue where Ash left off, there's plenty of better players. Young was doing his own thing in his own special way - and I believe he has years left in him.

Just not at Villa. So it goes. Decisions hurt, but we move on. That's just the way it is.

But we won't ever forget the good times, Ash - don't you worry. You delivered more of those than most could ever dream of.