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Arsenal eyeing surprise raid on rivals for £20m-rated defender

By on November 11, 2017

According to the Telegraph, Arsenal are among the clubs eyeing a potential swoop for Luke Shaw as Manchester United get ready to cash-in at around £20m.

Shaw joined United from Southampton in 2014 heralded as one of the best young full-backs in Europe and he was fully expected to develop into a top class player at Old Trafford.

However, the 22-year-old has endured a torrid time as injury problems and a fall out with Jose Mourinho have meant the defender has made just 49 appearances over the past three-and-a-half years.

Shaw is yet to feature in the Premier League and has played just 47 minutes of League Cup football this term so it’s safe to say his days at United look numbered.

The Telegraph claim United have triggered an automatic one-year extension to his contract to take it up to 2019 but only to ensure they can demand a transfer fee of around £20m when they sell him either in January or next summer.

Obviously there is plenty of interest being shown in the England international and the newspaper names Arsenal as being among the clubs that are keeping a close eye on his situation ahead of a potential swoop.

However, we’ll face plenty of competition as the report says Chelsea, Spurs, Manchester City and Everton are also keen on Shaw so it looks like there will be a scramble for his signature.

I thought Shaw looked the real deal during his days at Southampton but he’s really lost his way at United so it’s going to be interesting to see where he ends up.

He’d be a great signing for us if we could keep him fit and get him back to his best form, and he’d provide some top class competition for Sead Kolasinac in the left-back/wing-back position.

With Nacho Monreal now playing at centre-back and Kieran Gibbs sold to West Brom in the summer we don’t have much depth behind Kolasinac on the left so I’d welcome Shaw to Arsenal if we could get a deal agreed.

However, I’d personally be surprised if United would be willing to sell to the likes of Arsenal and Mourinho would no doubt loath to do business with Wenger so I’m not expecting Shaw to end up with us.