Rumour: Chelsea to swap Ryan Bertrand for Southampton left-back Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw (R)

Chelsea have long been linked with Southampton’s highly-rated young left-back, Luke Shaw, but according to the Mirror the Saints may be tempted by the prospect of a deal that would involve the Blues’ Ryan Bertrand heading the other way.

Despite privately accepting that the young defender is bound to leave for a club offering Champions League football at some point in the future, Southampton are not prepared to sell Shaw during the current transfer window. However, the South-coast outfit have reportedly expressed interest in Chelsea’s Bertrand, which may improve the Blues’ hand amid swarms of elite clubs currently monitoring Shaw.

Jose Mourinho seems to have settled on deploying Cesar Azpilicueta, a natural right-back, on the left side of Chelsea’s defence, presumably a source of immense exasperation for out-of-favour left-backs Bertrand and Ashley Cole.

Shaw, meanwhile, has only failed to feature in three of Southampton’s 20 Premier League games so far this season. Impressively, the Saints managed to keep clean sheets during six of their first nine league games and the youngster was part of the starting line-up for five of those.

Shaw would be billed as a long-term successor to an intimidating legacy left behind by Cole at Chelsea, though many forecast that this might also be the case in the England national team. The player has also admitted he was a boyhood Chelsea fan, though Southampton would reportedly demand £8 million plus Ryan Bertrand for his services.

Luke Shaw has won 20 tackles this term, he has won more tackles than Yaya Toure (17).