Ex-Man United star reveals he needs hip replacement just weeks after retiring

Aug 10, 2026 - 15:00

Ashley Young has revealed he will have to undergo hip replacement surgery after retiring from professional football.

The former England international ended his playing career earlier this summer before turning 41 last month.

Ashley Young looks on during Ipswich Town's match against Birmingham City — Young has revealed he requires a hip replacement weeks after retiring

Young hung up his boots after helping Ipswich Town win promotion to the Premier League.

He made 13 Championship appearances for the Tractor Boys after joining the club last summer.

However, the right-back’s final league outing came on January 20 as a hip injury curtailed his season.

Young has now admitted he will require a hip replacement in the future.

Young’s surgery

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, he explained: “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.’

“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 has since been given a two-year window before he will need the surgery.

Ashley Young looks on during Ipswich Town's match against Blackpool — Young has been given a two-year window for hip surgery after hanging up his boots this summer

It comes after a specialist informed him his hip has become ‘much worse’ in recent months.

The Premier League winner was even forced to miss training for three months at one stage last season.

He added: “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.’”