Chelsea Transfer News: £4m Bid For The New Gareth Bale

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo is said to be ready to make a £4m bid for Southampton's teenage full-back Luke Shaw, according to The Daily Mail. The England under-17 defender, who made his first team debut in the FA Cup game against Millwall in the FA Cup last year, has been christened the new Gareth Bale and understandably Southampton will resist any attempt to take him away from St Mary's. Shaw is highly-rated at Southampton, having been branded a big part of the club's future by manager Nigel Adkins back in January but the opportunity to join the Champions League and FA Cup winners might be too big for the player to resist, and £4m is a lot of money for a 16-year-old who might not feature in the first-team this season as Southampton return to the Premier League. Chelsea registered their interest in Shaw back in January, but Southampton's return to the Premier League means they aren't pressed to sell, as they weren't when Bale began to attract a lot of interest. Whether the draw to join the Chelsea revolution (albeit as one for the future, who would likely go out on loan before regular first-team opportunities appeared) will be enough for Shaw to go for the move remains to be seen, but Saints fans will hope to keep hold of their latest young star after seeing the likes of Wayne Bridge, Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leave for "big-club" moves in the recent past. Di Matteo is currently well into his rebuilding agenda, having already added both Marko Marin and Eden Hazard to the squad, and allowing first-teamers Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Jose Bosingwa to leave. The former West Brom manager obviously has one eye on the future, with a youthful policy focusing on players whose best years are ahead of them, and Shaw will certainly fit the bill. If the bid were successful, Chelsea would look to bring in Shaw as the long-term successor to Ashley Cole, who has made the left-back berth his own, but who turns 32 this year, and will be advancing into the twilight years of his career.