Man Utd icon, 41, reveals he needs hip replacement weeks after retiring from football

FORMER Manchester United star Ashley Young needs a hip replacement, just weeks after announcing his retirement from football. The 41-year-old called time on his 23-year career this summer after a short spell at Ipswich Town, in which the Tractor Boys climbed back up to the Premier League. Ashley Young has revealed that he needs a hip replacement Credit: Alamy The 41-year-old hung up his boots in the summer after a season at Ipswich Town Credit: PA Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Young explained the problems he was having with his hip. He said: “I went down on my hip in November and had an injection. I have always said to myself: ‘If my body is saying you need injections, there is a problem, you need to think about retiring’. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! “Basically I need a hip replacement, in November I was told I would need it in about 10 years time. “I got to January and was due to have another injection which would have got me through to the end of the season, as I was saying to the specialist ‘I know it is painful, but I want to make sure I do everything I can possibly do to help the team’. “About a week before I am about to have the injection, I go down on it in training and I am like ‘this is worse, I know it is a lot worse’.” Young then revealed that a specialist told him his hip had become “much worse”, giving him a two-year window to get it replaced. He concluded that it came as a result of overuse following his 756-game senior career which spanned from 2003-2026. The 41-year-old was physically unable to train for three months but was still determined to end his career on a high. Most read in Sport BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS He said: “From January to the end of the season, I literally had two or three months where I couldn’t train it was that painful. I saw the specialist again and said ‘I’m not going out like this’. He said he didn’t want to give me another injection as it would weaken the area. “I asked him ‘are you telling me I can’t play football again, you can say it if you want, trust me if I get an opportunity to be back on the pitch, I’ll be back on the pitch’. “The last two months of the season I was training every day and he was like ‘it is not possible, you shouldn’t be training’.” The ex-England man’s grit and determination saw him train all the way through the crucial end of season run-in, despite not actually getting on the pitch. He added: “It would have been incredible to come onto the pitch for the last game of the season but for me to train like I did that week and for us to be promoted on the last day of the season, it was fitting.” Ipswich finished second in the Championship, securing a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. It was the final feat of Young’s successful career, which included winning the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup at Man United. Young also won a Serie A title in 2021 during his spell at Inter Milan. Comment now