Related items

• Former England international Ashley Young to leave Aston Villa

  Ashley Young is to leave Aston Villa at the end of his contract this summer.

  The 37-year-old rejoined Villa in 2021 after winning the Serie A title at Inter Milan.

  “Aston Villa can confirm that Ashley Young will be leaving the club upon the expiration of his contract,” read a club statement.

  “Everyone at Aston Villa would like to sincerely thank Ashley for his service to the club and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

  Young made over 100 appearances for Watford before joining Villa in 2007.

  He signed for Manchester United in 2011 and won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League during nine years at Old Trafford.

  Young moved to Inter in 2020 and became the third Englishman to win Italy’s top prize after Jimmy Greaves and Gerry Hitchens in 1963.

  The 39-times England international, who can play as a left-back or left wing, made 32 appearances last season and 250 for Villa across his two spells with the club.

• 5 key talking points as rivals Man City and Man Utd clash in FA Cup final

  Rivals Manchester City and Manchester United clash in the FA Cup final this weekend.

  Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the key talking points ahead of the Wembley encounter.

  The treble

  City head to Wembley hoping to complete the second leg of a glorious treble. The Premier League title is in the bag and the Champions League final against Inter Milan is still to come. Adding spice to the occasion is the fact that United are the only other English club to have achieved this feat, back in 1999. Their fans would certainly love nothing more than to stop their neighbours emulating them.

  Champions League final influence

  It will be interesting to see how much of a bearing the Champions League final has on City manager Pep Guardiola’s selection. The European competition is the one great prize that has eluded him during his time at City and is undoubtedly his priority. He could opt to hold players back with that in mind. However, this is not his normal way and, with a week between the fixtures, there is time for rest and recovery. Guardiola will also need to keep his star players sharp and there can be few better games in which to do so than a Wembley final.

  Ten Hag recovery

  Erik ten Hag has lifted spirits at Old Trafford after a dreadful 2021-22 campaign in which they got through three managers. There have still been some bad defeats along the way – most notably 4-0 at Brentford, 6-3 at City and 7-0 at Liverpool – but the Dutchman has generally earned credit for the way he turned the team around. He won the Carabao Cup and got them back into the Champions League. There was even talk of a title challenge at one stage as they hit form mid-season. United are still some way off where they aspire to be, but winning the FA Cup would cap a promising campaign.

  Haaland chasing more headlines

  Erling Haaland has written his name all over this season. The prolific Norwegian has had a sensational impact at City, scoring 52 goals in all competitions. Dixie Dean’s near century-old all-time single-season record of 63 may be beyond him now but he will be hungry for more and to add a significant, competition-winning strike to his tally. He is not the only dangerman in the City side but he will be the one feared most by United.

  United options

  United’s pursuit of Champions League football fuelled a strong finish to their Premier League campaign. With players also staking claims for cup final places, they secured third place with a run of four-successive wins. This has given Ten Hag the pleasant problem of deciding which players to leave out. The make-up of the attack could be particularly interesting with Marcus Rashford now fit after illness, Antony close to returning from injury and Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho having done their cases no harm in recent weeks.

• How managers Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag fare ahead of FA Cup final

  Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag will lead the teams out at Wembley this weekend in the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final.

  Ahead of Saturday’s showdown in the capital, the PA news agency has taken a closer look at the City and United managers.

  Past meetings

  This season’s Premier League encounters are the only times these managers have faced off, with City winning the first encounter 6-3 in October before United came back to win 2-1 at Old Trafford in January.

  But while they do not have a huge history of playing against one another, these managers know each other well.

  Ten Hag left Go Ahead Eagles in his homeland in 2013 to become head coach of Bayern Munich II – the reserve team of the perennial Bundesliga champions, who were then managed by Guardiola.

  The United boss said the Spaniard inspired him, with the pair talking regularly with the Dutchman watching him very carefully. Ten Hag has previously described his training sessions as “a joy to watch”.

  Guardiola clearly thinks highly of his cross-city rival, who he said would have made an excellent successor for him at the Etihad Stadium before his United appointment was confirmed.

  Trophies

  Guardiola, arguably the greatest coach of this generation, boasts an eye-watering medal haul.

  The 52-year-old has won 11 top-flight titles – three LaLiga crowns, three Bundesliga titles and now five Premier League triumphs. Guardiola oversaw a pair of Champions League victories at Barcelona, which he hopes to add to against Inter Milan in June’s Istanbul finale.

  The Catalan has also won domestic trophies aplenty wherever he has been, with Saturday offering the chance to win his second FA Cup.

  The freshly-crowned LMA Manager of the Year takes on a man that led Ajax to three Eredivisie titles during his time in Amsterdam, as well as a pair of KNVB Cups and the Johan Cruyff Shield.

  Ten Hag’s first silverware as a manager was the Regionalliga Bayern title in 2014, while this season’s Carabao Cup victory was his latest triumph and first at United.

  This season

  City are looking to write their name in history by matching United’s 1999 treble heroes. Guardiola’s side saw off Arsenal’s impressive title charge during an unrelenting end to the season that led them to be crowned with three games to spare – their fifth in six years and third in succession.

  Inter stand in their way as City make their second Champions League final appearance on June 10, where they would have the chance to wrap up the treble, unless Ten Hag’s Red Devils can put a spoke in the wheel at Wembley.

  United have improved vastly on last season’s wretched campaign to finish third in the Premier League, securing a Champions League return on the back of ending their six-year wait for silverware.

  Ten Hag became just the second manager in the club’s medal-laden history to win a major trophy in his first season at the helm with February’s Carabao Cup triumph against Newcastle.

  Now comes the chance to add another trophy to the cabinet with a statement victory that would end their neighbours’ treble dreams.