Why there’s a danger if Jose bales on Shaw too quickly

JOSE Mourinho need only look to Gareth Bale to appreciate the danger of giving up on Luke Shaw too soon.

This is not to suggest Shaw will develop into one of the world’s most outstanding forwards, the most expensive player in history, or a threetime Champions League winner with Real Madrid.

But links with Barcelona may have set alarm bells ringing.

How serious interest from the Nou Camp is remains to be seen. But the talent that made the 22-year-old the most expensive teenager in the world when he joined United from Southampton is appreciated beyond the confines of Old Trafford.

And should Mourinho choose to cut his losses this summer, there is a very real danger he will flourish elsewhere.

The form and – more importantly – values of Kevin de Bruyne, Mo Salah and Romelu Lukaku after being sold on by Mourinho at Chelsea, will also be a serious consideration during the decision process.

But perhaps Bale is a more relevant case study. Like Shaw, he was plucked from Southampton as a highly-rated, if raw, prospect.

Like Shaw, issues over injury and form saw his Tottenham career stall to the point that he was almost sent on loan to Birmingham and Nottingham Forest just before his career took off spectacularly.

Two years his junior, Shaw remains a conundrum to Mourinho. And how to solve it is perhaps a question United’s manager has asked himself more frequently than any other during his time at club.

From tough love to pampering to tougher love – he just can’t get a tune he likes out of his left-back.

The past two weeks alone have emphasised the point.

Mourinho’s latest public dressing down came just weeks after sources close to him suggested he was happy with the player.

The triggering of a one-year extension would be done as a matter of course to protect United’s investment – but his long-term future remains very much uncertain.