during his later years at united, young was re-invented as a defender, deployed as a left-sided full back or wing back. "whoscored"'s martin laurence stated in 2018 that "luke shaw can't get a kick at manchester united and that is down to the form of ashley young, who has adapted to another new role superbly. young is now proving to be an aggressive and intelligent defender, all while still offering a threat going forwards with his delivery into the box. on current form the 32-year-old shouldn't just make the cut, but be considered as england's first choice." other than being deployed as a left-back, young had also being deployed as a right-back. on 12 september 2017 young was being deployed as a right-back in a 3–0 win against basel in the champions league, assisting with the opening goal with a cross to marouane fellaini in the 35th minute, young was also captain for the match.