Why Man United Have To Out-Bid Chelsea To Get This 17-Year Old To Old Trafford

Should United move for the Southampton defender Luke Shaw?

Well Southampton have always boasted of a youth academy producing talented players season after season and now they have another feather to their cap. This year one player who has impressed in particular from Southampton is Luke Shaw. The 17 year old has burst into the scene with his show in his debut season and now reportedly the big clubs are after him for his signature. Manchester United are really monitoring him for a transfer, though they have to fight against Arsenal and Chelsea, of who the player is a fan of.

Patrice Evra has reached 32, not a very gracious age for a football player and although United have a replacement in Alexander Buttner, the youngster has not made any remarkable performances under his belt. Under these circumstances, new United manager David Moyes would be looking for a young left-back and Shaw can fit the bill rightly.

In Shaw United will find a defender who is not shy from tackles and technically at par with the best. Moreover, with the acquisition of Shaw, United’s worry for a decent left-back would end for the next decade at least. If sources are to believed, Chelsea had bid £10m for him in the January transfer window but it was rejected by Southampton. So it is for granted that United would have to shell out a fair amount of money for one of the most promising young talents in England right now.

But the silver lining for united is that Shaw shared a very good rapport with former manager Nigel Adkins, who was sacked amid controversial circumstances. His rapport with current manager Mauricio Pochettino is not the best in the world and that factor can be the catalyst which will make the transfer a bit easy for United.

But still the question would remain that whether Shaw, who has all the chances to debut for the English national side this year, should make a move to a top club in the likes of United at this moment? He is just 17 now and still very much in the developing phase. A move to any higher club right now may only make his gametime reduced and thus should wait for a fair bit of time before making the big switch.

But then it is very difficult for any player and also a club like Southampton to turn their back on money and that may just do the trick for United.