Ashley Young warns Manchester United stars he's a dressing-room joker

06 August 2011 13:28
Game for a laugh: Ashley Young [LNB]Manchester United's unsuspecting players have been warned. Sir Alex Ferguson has signed another joker in the pack in the form of Ashley Young. [LNB]Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney are the leading dressing room pranksters following the retirement of Paul Scholes. [LNB] Young knows both men from their time together with England, and the winger is confident he will hold his own once he gets used to his new surroundings. [LNB]'I am pretty lively and quite loud,' Young told Inside United. 'When you come to a new club it takes a little while for you to work out how things are but I am a bit of a joker around the dressing room.'[LNB] Ferguson will hope Young reserves his tricks for Wembley tomorrow given he is likely to make his competitive debut in the Community Shield showdown with Manchester City. [LNB] It is an immediate introduction to life at the highest level for Young, who first became away of United's interest in January and despite competing offers from Liverpool amongst others, never had any doubt Old Trafford was where he would end up. [LNB]'At the time, we were in a bit of a sticky situation at Villa and in a battle to stay up so the clubs said they would talk again during the summer and see where things were,' said Young. [LNB]'There were other clubs interested but as soon as I heard about United, I just wanted to sign. I knew it was the right club.'[LNB] His preferred choice of career path was reinforced by Ferdinand and Rooney while they were away with England. [LNB] Glowing reports: Young discussed United with Rio Ferdinand before joining[LNB]For a player who has never lacked confidence in his own ability to make an impact at the highest level, the words merely confirmed what he already felt and assured completion of Young's transition from Watford. [LNB]'I did speak with them,' he said of those international chats. 'When you are away with England, you always talk about life at your club. [LNB]'Everything I heard about United was fantastic. The lads told me how much I would enjoy playing here.[LNB]'I have always had confidence in myself and believed I could play at the highest level. [LNB]'Some people said I couldn't, but they also said I couldn't play for England so that didn't bother me.'[LNB] Indeed, Young claims to be nerveless about the whole venture, apart from his first meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson that is, when his likely position was not mentioned. [LNB]'I am not normally someone who gets nervous but I was this time,' he laughed. [LNB] Debut: The winger is set to play in Sunday's Community Shield at Wembley[LNB]'As soon as I met him though, my nerves disappeared. He used the word challenge a lot. That is something I have done throughout my career. [LNB]'I will be happy wherever the manager wants to play me. I played left, right and behind the main striker at Villa. Being versatile is something I enjoy.'[LNB] Given Rooney has rarely operated in one position to the exclusion of all the rest, it seems unlikely Young will do the same. [LNB]However, the smart money would be on him filling the wide left berth, leaving Ferguson to decide whether to select Rooney in a lone striking berth or hand Dimitar Berbatov a start on the ground where he spent last season's Champions League final in tears. [LNB]Ferguson has always stressed his belief that the Community Shield forms part of United's pre-season programme, no matter its status as an annual showpiece. [LNB] His assistant Mike Phelan gave the game away last weekend, immediately after their final tour match in Washington, when he described this weekend's fixture as 'tasty'. [LNB]Having lost last season's FA Cup semi-final to the same opposition on the same ground in April, there is no way Ferguson will want to begin a new campaign on a similar losing note, especially considering he regards City, along with his own side, as one of five clubs who will challenge for the Premier League title this term.  [LNB] CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE FANTASY FOOTBALL GAMEFarewell to a genius: Manchester United legend Scholes signs off in styleSneijder's off to Manchester... but it's not United! City 'agree' shock ?31m deal for Inter aceAndy Townsend: City lack the edge the United have and that's why they are still the team to beat [LNB]

Source: Daily_Mail