Transfer news: Nicola Cortese exit could spark £20m bidding war between Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United for Luke Shaw

Mauricio Pochettino and Rickie Lambert could leave too

Charles Reynolds
Thursday 16 January 2014 11:36 GMT
Comments
Southampton's highly rated left-back Luke Shaw is a transfer target for Chelsea.
Southampton's highly rated left-back Luke Shaw is a transfer target for Chelsea. (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The resignation of Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese could lead to a three way bidding war for Luke Shaw according to reports.

Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are all said to be interested in the highly-rated young left back who could command a figure of around £20m.

Meanwhile club owner Katharina Liebherr has assumed day to day running of the club although she may be faced with a hard battle in trying to persuade manager Mauricio Pochettino to remain at St Mary's.

The Argentine was described as being 'in shock' at the news of Cortese's departure, having previously said that his future at the club was very much aligned with the Italian who appointed him a year ago.

However Pochettino is expected to be in charge for Saturday's televised game with Sunderland.

The exit of Cortese has also increased the chances of offers being made for many of Southampton's stars, with their three England players, Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert all vulnerable, as well as players like Dejan Lovren and Morgan Schneiderlin.

Meanwhile Liebherr must now begin the search for a new chief executive.

“With great regret we have accepted the resignation of Mr Cortese,” said Katharina Liebherr.

“He has done a wonderful job at the club and we very much wanted him to stay. In the meantime, it is business as usual and we will ensure that the manager, the team and all the staff at the club have all the help and support they need.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in