In today's People: Scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea & Manchester United and Chelsea have had a bid of £1m rejected - are they taking the piss!?
Yes, but lots of players are good enough to play for an England U[insert number] when they are 15. Many's the time they don't progress to anything. Shaw must have that something special about him already.
Progressing with us, he has every chance. Saying that, I fail to see how going to Chelsea to develop is of any benefit. Take Cork for instance, Chelsea 'b' was just a constant stream of loans. I'd rather grow & develop in good surroundings, then make the break through, as I'm sure Shaw will.
I'd love to see the likes of Shaw, JWP etc get a good run of games at the end of the season once we've discovered our fate e.g. secured promotion with 3 game to go or whatever.
The bad thing about sending players out on loan is that they may forget their teams style of play or pick up new, possibly bad habits from the team they are loaned to.
Adkins has said we are not selling club, although things do change. Clubs can ask, but doesn't mean they'll get anywhere. just look at us and Hooper. Also, remember that papers have to fill column inches.
For footballing reasons, Luke would be far better off staying with Saints. However, we all know from experience, money talks and these kids and more importantly their parents will follow the cash regardless off where best their development is suited So we can expect Luke to be off on £10k a week and Mummy and Daddy being given a massive house and employed to keep their son on track
Not all parents are the same. They probably have jobs, other children and local connections (I hope?) and may regard him as too young to leave home permanently. I wouldn't have let my son lose in London at that age..road to ruin.
The big clubs will relocate the whole family into an expensive north London home near the training ground to " soften" the blow!
Where do these articles come from? Does he have an active parent or agent dropping his name about? Scouts tend to keep their work quiet, so I'm guessing they're not shouting to the press. It hasn't happened to any of the other kids.
Most of the Saints U18 team are in digs as 'home' is too far away. JWP is from Pompey and Shaw lives near Cobham I think as he was wanted by Chelsea for years. McQueen is the only U18 with a pro who is actually from Southampton. He went to Mountbatten School.
They may be from further afield but they are a part of the acadamy housing scheme and they all live local to the area.