Mourinho attempts to unsettle United youngsters

Jose Mourinho believes the signing of Luke Shaw would have killed his current club, Chelsea, had they have pursued his signature.

Mourinho was interested in the ex-Southampton left-back but the 19-year-old chose to move to Manchester United ahead of Chelsea this summer in a £28m deal.

In an attempt to silence youngsters within his own squad, Mourinho insists that, had he agreed to Shaw’s wage demands, the dressing room at Stamford Bridge would have been in uproar.

Mourinho said: “If we pay to a 19-year-old boy what we were being asked for, to sign Luke Shaw, we are dead. We would have killed our stability with financial fair play, and killed the stability in our dressing room.

“Because when you pay that much to a 19-year-old kid – a good player, fantastic player – but when you pay that amount of money, the next day, we would have had players knocking on our door.

“They would have been saying ‘How is it possible I play 200 games for this club, won this and that, yet a 19-year-old comes here and gets more money than I get?’

“It would’ve killed immediately our balance, and we couldn’t allow that.

“I don’t criticise another club for paying it. They can pay what they want. I don’t have any comment about it.

“But for my club we can say it would be very negative for us, especially when we can say Felipe is much less expensive.

“Sometimes you have to make decisions.”

RedRants Opinion?

If a 19yr old’s wage has such a negatively influential effect on your dressing room plus the wage demands of your players, what effect does having countless loanees on vast sums of money themselves have on it? What effect does that have on the ‘balance’ of your club versus that of signing a player who’d slot into 40+ games per season for you?

With Moyes at the helm last season it quickly became apparent United were not a force to be reckoned with and thus the mind games appeared to decease early in the campaign. Had Moyes proved to be a danger to others (such as Mourinho) he would have encountered far more verbal battles and mind games than he did. Now, with the obvious strength of mind, direction and will to win being shown by Mr van Gaal already, the competitors are worried and feeling the need to sow seeds of both positivity and negativity within both their own camps and that of United’s.

Luke Shaw is the brightest talent in the country right now and Chelsea have failed to secure his services despite his family being loyal Chelsea supporters and the owner having enough pocket money to outbid United for ANY player. Mourinho knows United have purchased the best quality 19yr old in the land and he’s keen to put his own spin on it whilst ultimately attempting to cause unrest within United’s youth ranks by highlighting his (Shaw’s) considerable wage demands. There’s also a guarded message to his own young stars that, unless you’re Luke Shaw, you’re getting paid what we say you’re getting paid and don’t come knocking on my door.

Paddy Crerand described Shaw as ‘a man in boys clothes’ the other night and he’s right. These sort of players only come around every now and again and therefore trade for sums and command such wages that pro’s far advanced into theirs careers deserve. Wayne Rooney springs to mind as an obvious example whilst Ross Barkley’s £60,000 per-a-week Everton deal (at a similar age to Shaw) simply serves to reaffirm this. What these players possess is a physicality and mentality way beyond their seemingly tender years. Mourinho’s attempt to unsettle Shaw by highlighting his wage demands will be water off a ducks back.

£27m for a teenager who will either go on to make 500+ appearances for United (or leave for a figure WAY beyond that of his initial fee before he reaches that landmark) is undoubtedly good business.

With van Gaal’s history of promoting youth and the likes of Wilson, Lingard, Lawrence, Keane(s), Perreira, Rothwell and Pearson on the periphery of United’s first team, it’s no surprise Jose has targeted United’s youngsters. I’d be worried too after the greatest Chelsea hope to emerge from their academy, Josh McEachran, has amounted to very little at Stamford Bridge despite being part of a winning FA Youth Cup squad just a few years ago of which NONE have emerged as first team stars.

Your boy Felipe Luis isn’t a patch on Shaw, Jose, and you know it. If you’re resorting to mind games before the season, I can’t wait to hear what you make of our lack of European commitments during it. You just know that will be the stick he tries to beat van Gaal with like he did with Rodgers last season.

Look out Jose, Louis is no Brendan and he’s certainly no David!