Ashley Young or Samir Nasri: Which Manchester Newcomer Is More Vital to His Club

Both Ashley Young and Samir Nasri have enjoyed incredible starts to their new careers in Manchester, but among all the high spending and free-flowing football, which Manchester newcomer will be more integral to the success of his new club?

The arrival of Ashley Young at Manchester United was met with a number of spectators looking on and wondering if the former Aston Villa winger could cut it at the very highest level. The transfer fee in the region of £15 million would seem a safe risk in a climate dominated by ludicrous sums of money being spent.

Five games into the Premier League season and Young has slotted into the United line up almost effortlessly, linking up with Wayne Rooney as if the two have been playing together for years and contributing on the score sheet with a number of spectacular goals.

Samir Nasri has also seen a similarly impressive start to his life in Manchester, already surpassing his assists tally of last season and seeming at ease with the free-flowing football on display at Manchester City.

Nasri’s contribution, however, may not seem as great compared to that of Young’s at United on the basis of City’s huge strength in depth. City boss Roberto Mancini may opt to leave Nasri out of his starting XI and with very little effort find a replacement more than suitable to replace the production of the Frenchman.

David Silva and Nasri have been seen to be swapping roles during games, with one dropping deeper to dictate the game and the other pushing further up the field to support the strikers, and in the absence of Nasri Mancini can look to Adam Johnson, Mario Balotelli and former captain Carlos Tevez.

Sir Alex Ferguson, while also possessing an equally impressive squad in terms of depth, may not find the production and fluidity of Young among his substitutes.

Antonio Valencia is rightfully on the bench due to the form on Young and Nani, and Park Ji-Sung’s industry does not always produce goals.

Based on the way United have lined up in a number of their games this season, it appears Alex Ferguson will go back to the 4-4-2 formation with his wingers able to cut in to support the two strikers. Without a recognised creative outlet in midfield, Ashley Young is evidently going to be vital for United’s quest for trophies this season.

Nasri, on the other hand, has the luxury of playing a number of roles for Manchester City based on personnel and perhaps opposition.

Arriving from Arsenal he is well versed in the pass and move aspect of the game, retaining possession and looking for openings in the opposition defence. Not only does the quality of his teammates allow the burden of creativity to be lessened, but it also means that the Frenchman’s game has been raised almost effortlessly since arriving at the Etihad Stadium.

Samir Nasri will be an outstanding asset to City’s ultimate goal of the Premier League title, he has a number of years playing in Europe’s elite competition—The Champions League—and has more caps for France than Young does for England, despite being left on the fringes as of late.

Ashley Young, though, was brought in to Manchester United as the club’s big-name forward. There is far more emphasis on him to succeed based on the fact goals and assists are few and far between when it comes to his replacements.

He has developed a wonderful understanding with Wayne Rooney, something that the England striker has maybe missed since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, and Young’s ability at set-pieces, and the conversion to goals of those set-pieces, mean the England winger is likely to be far more vital to United’s campaign than that of Nasri for City.

Samir Nasri may have been tipped at a very young age to replicate the successes of countryman Zinedine Zidane, and he may yet reach those heights if his form at City continues as it has begun. But Ashley Young has been a key figure and a source of many of United’s goals so far this season. The burden will weigh far heavier on Alex Ferguson if he is without his new midfield signing than that of his counterpart at Manchester City.