It seems increasingly likely that Manchester United and Chelsea will feature in a summer transfer window battle over the signature of Southampton’s Luke Shaw. The Saints left back is rapidly becoming the most in demand defender in the Premier League and David Moyes and Jose Mourinho will be squaring up over his future after the season ends.
Chelsea will be keen to secure Shaw as Mourinho seems set on easing Ashley Cole out of the club in the summer, and will doubtless be looking for a replacement. Maintaining an English presence in the squad is of increasing importance with the Premier League rules on squad accumulation, and losing one with Cole, will make it even more important to replace him with another homegrown player.
For Manchester United, the need is slightly different. Patrice Evra appears likely to decamp back to France at the end of the season, and now that longterm target Leighton Baines has signed a new deal at Everton, Shaw appears the obvious target.
The complication for both United and Chelsea is that a third party may want to join the bidding. Manchester City still have an unresolved issue at left back. Former Arsenal defender Gael Clichy has been vying for the position with Aleksander Kolarov, and neither have managed to secure the first eleven role on a regular basis. Should City bring their big financial guns to bear on the situation, it may be that both Chelsea and United could draw a blank.
At the moment, Southampton are making all of the right noises about not wanting to sell Shaw, and the player himself has indeed declared that he’s not keen to move. Money talks however, and come season’s end, it may well be that Saints are listening.
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