Inside Everton's move for Ashley Young as sources make Sean Dyche revelation

Ashley Young's appreciation of Sean Dyche's approach was influential in him becoming Everton's first signing of the summer.

Young has penned a one-year deal with the Blues after talks between the parties advanced this week and he passed his medical on Tuesday. One key feature of the move was the 38-year-old's willingness to work under Dyche - who he played alongside as he burst into senior football at Watford.

The Premier League and Serie A title winner is understood to like Dyche’s approach, with a source close to the player saying the manager’s honesty and ‘real life thinking’ appeal to Young.

It is Everton’s first foray into the transfer market across what looks set to be a difficult summer in which reinforcements are needed but resources appear to be tight. Young offers a host of positives that Dyche can call on and, despite reservations about his age from some sections of the fanbase, those who watched him closely at Aston Villa last season believe he can still perform at the elite level of the game.

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Young turned down interest from elsewhere, including from newly-promoted Luton Town, in deciding to join the Blues. While his availability helped, with Young without a club since leaving Villa this summer, he is seen as more than just a free route into much-needed depth for positions in which Dyche needs back up.

For Steven Gerrard, the last manager to sign him, the former England international took a key role within the dressing room and drove up standards rather than choosing to wind down his career.

Speaking in October, Gerrard said of his first impressions of Young: “His