Luke Shaw’s relationship with Mourinho was never stable, to begin with. The English full-back has only made a handful of appearances for the Red Devils this season. It was reported earlier that Mourinho was unimpressed with the player’s fitness, lack of tactical knowledge and lazy attitude.
Things did become smooth for a while but circumstances have boiled up again with Mourinho once again criticizing the defender in public. Mourinho said on Saturday that he chose to substitute Shaw rather than Valencia because “at least Antonio defensively was capable of good positioning”.
“Luke, in the first half, every time they came in his corridor, the cross came in and a dangerous situation was coming,” the Portuguese said. “I was not happy with his performance.”
This has left Shaw’s future in the club in doubt. It is now being believed that Chelsea have jumped the queue and are first in line in signing the English left-back.
Shaw’s career developed in Southampton and he became not only a regular first-team player but a star with the Saints. He was developed and became a player of great potential under the then Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Finally in the summer of 2014, along came Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United and he signed Luke Shaw from Southampton for a hefty fee of £27m on a four-year deal. The then 19-year old promised a great future at Old Trafford but recurring injuries forced him out of the side and stagnated his career. He has now been at Old Trafford and has not played a single full season.
Despite being fit this time around from May, Mourinho had overlooked the England player in the earlier part of the season in favour of other United footballers like Ashley Young, Daley Blind and Matteo Darmian.
As for Chelsea, they have two senior left backs in Emerson Palmieri and their first team star Marcos Alonso. The 27-year-old has enjoyed a productive couple of seasons for the Blues and helped them clinch the Premier League title with some excellent performances at the left-wing back last year. With Chelsea playing 3-4-3, Alonso has been given a license to bombard up and down the left wing without worrying about the defence too much.
If Shaw were to move, he would certainly have to play a backup once again, something he will not be keen on. Moreover, with Emerson already in the squad it could well become a case of too many cooks for the Blues and hence they should be smart enough to back away from a deal for Shaw.
