Manchester United Hijack Chelsea's Bid to Sign Southampton Defender Luke Shaw - Report
Manchester United have hijacked Luke Shaw's much coveted move to Chelsea and the Southampton starlet is set to move to Old Trafford after the end of the season, according to the Mirror.
The report states that United have gone in with a big money offer for the youngster, who will earn close to £85,000 a week if he chooses to move to Manchester. The left-back is among the most talented defenders in the country and United are ready to pay a premium of £27m to bring him to Old Trafford as replacement for Patrice Evra, who is set to leave the club in the summer.
Chelsea were in pole position to sign the 18-year-old, who was to come in as replacement for Ashley Cole, with the former Arsenal man falling out of favour with the Blues manager. However, with the season yet to end, Chelsea are likely to make an improved bid for the player who would prefer a move to West London if given a choice. Shaw has been the first choice left-back for the Saints since he was 17 and is set to be included in the England squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho slammed his team after a tepid performance against Crystal Palace saw them lose the game 1-0 and their chance of increasing the lead over Liverpool. The Reds will have a chance to move into top spot when they face Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday where a win will see them go two points clear of the Blues. The Portuguese manager believes that the loss is a telling blow to their title credentials.
"I think now we lose any chance of finishing first. Now we depend too much on other results. I know Mr Foy's weekend was an important weekend in this run," Mourinho told BBC.
"But today we lost three points; we lost against a team that was better than us in terms of spirit and mentality. We can only blame ourselves.
"I think maybe they deserved a victory. We had good chances. Their keeper made some good saves. We probably had the best chance of the first half.
"But their spirit, desire and commitment were stronger. Because of the spirit, they deserved the win," he concluded.
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