Luke Shaw latest: Man Utd players ‘angry’; clubs linked
Luke Shaw, Jose Mourinho and Manchester United dominate the news agenda on Monday morning.
Shaw started only his 12th Manchester United game of the season in all competitions on Saturday in the 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory over Brighton.
The left-back was substituted at half-time however, and was also the subject of Mourinho’s post-match ire, which was covered in 16 FA Cup Conclusions.
It is quite the comedown from January, when Mourinho stated that: “I can say that in this moment I don’t see many left-backs better than this Luke Shaw.”
Numerous outlets on Monday morning bring us news of Shaw’s future, which almost certainly lies away from Old Trafford. Here are the best bits.
BBC: Simon Stone is among the many to report that Shaw has been left ‘upset’ by Mourinho’s latest public criticism, and that he is ‘set to leave’ the club in the summer. ‘Those close’ to him go one further: they are ‘furious’ with the manager.
‘United have triggered the option of an additional year on his contract but it is accepted that unless Mourinho markedly changes his view of Shaw, it is likely the full-back will be sold,’ Stone writes.
DAILY TELEGRAPH: Never mind Shaw and his mates, what do the United players themselves think of this continued attack? John Percy and Ian Whittell are kind enough to fill us in. They say Shaw’s teammates are ‘stunned and angry’ with their manager, as well as ‘dumbfounded’.
Some players even feel that Shaw is being ‘bullied’ by the Portuguese, who is in danger of alienating the dressing room. ‘It is conceivable, he admitted, that he could “lose” the dressing room after his scatter-gun approach towards a group of multi-millionaire footballers not readily known for their acceptance of such public embarrassment,’ the article reads.
THE SUN: Neil Ashton has something of an explanation for Shaw’s under-par performance against Brighton: the two were ‘involved in an amazing training ground bust-up’ before the game. Shaw had ‘demanded’ to see his manager after being dropped from the squad to face Sevilla in the Champions League, seeking ‘assurances’ over his future. But Mourinho ‘flew off the handle’ in an ‘extraordinary outburst’.
Shaw now ‘has no chance of repairing his relationship with the manager’. It’s all a bloody shame.
THE TIMES: Paul Hirst has two Shaw things for us in The Times. The first, published on Sunday evening, reiterates the claim that the left-back ‘is set to leave’. The relationship between player and manager is said to be at ‘an all-time low’.
The second story, published at midnight, says that Shaw is ‘angry’ and ‘exasperated’, and ‘is likely’ to end his four-year stay at the club in the summer. Tottenham are mooted as a potential destination, such is their fondness for one another after their time at Southampton.
DAILY STAR: By the sounds of it, Tottenham are not alone in wanting to sign the England international. The Daily Star say they are interested, but add a number of other names into the mix.
Jeremy Cross states in no uncertain terms that Shaw ‘will be sold this summer’, with Leicester and Southampton also monitoring the situation. Chelsea are mentioned in the headline, but nowhere else in the article, which is strong work.
Mourinho sees the Brighton game as ‘the last straw’ in his management of Shaw, as he ‘no longer feels able to trust the full-back’. The Portuguese wants to replace Shaw with international teammate Danny Rose in ‘a £50m deal’.
United ‘are expected to trigger’ Shaw’s 12-month contract extension, Cross claims, but only so they can increase his value for a summer sale. That would be the same value that Mourinho has pretty much destroyed by publicly calling him sh*t.