Southampton: No truth in Man Utd deal for Shaw

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The defender has been linked with a summer move to Old Trafford, but club chief Les Reed has played down reports of widespread departures at the club

Luke Shaw is not on the brink of joining Manchester United, according to club chief Les Reed, who also ruled out a “fire sale” at Southampton at the end of the season.

Speculation has been rife that the likes of Adam Lallana and Shaw will depart St Mary’s at the end of the season, while manager Mauricio Pochettino has been touted as a potential candidate to take over at Tottenham.

However, executive director Reed has appeased supporters fearing that several of the south-coast club’s sought-after players are set to depart and is confident Pochettino will remain in his role.

“I work very closely with Mauricio,” Reed said. “We speak every day and sometimes for several hours in a day. I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there that needs clearing up.

“The first point I’d like to make is that, with regards to Mauricio Pochettino’s contract negotiations, both Mauricio and myself – that [dealing with negotiations] is my role – are very happy with the way we are approaching it at the moment.

“We would like to focus on the remaining games of this season and Mauricio has repeatedly said that and therefore we will pick up the details of any contract talks in the summer when the season is over.

“The second point I’d like to clear up is speculation in the press about our players. That is my responsibility. As we stand, there have been no enquiries, and we have had no bids, and we have had no offers for any of our players.

“That is accurate; that is the truth. That is exactly where we are. Reports that we are about to close deals on certain players and so on are totally misinformed, misleading, and are not true.

“That will remain so. As far as the policy is concerned, we’ve had a great season. We want to build on that season. We want to improve the squad going forward.”