As Alex Buttner’s agent confirms he is leaving Manchester United, Southampton fan Daniel Sharpe reflects on what that means for Luke Shaw.
Manchester United signed Alex Buttner by swooping in on Southampton’s bid in the summer of 2012 and taking him at the last minute.
Arsenal and Chelsea were both linked with Luke Shaw at that stage, so why weren’t United not chasing him back then? Is it just a case that they will buy whoever they want and if it doesn’t work out then they will laugh him off into obscurity?
As a young, aspiring left-back, Shaw should take note. It was Southampton, not United, that backed him last season – we showed the faith, kept the faith and then rejoiced in his successes.
Buttner was never given an opportunity to get a proper run in the United side. Neither Sir Alex Ferguson nor David Moyes selected him with any frequency or regularity during his two seasons at Old Trafford – both opting for Patrice Evra instead.
He now leaves United without being given a chance and with a question mark hanging over his suitability for top flight football.
Luke Shaw has been carefully nurtured by Saints and, furthermore, given the opportunity to break into first-team football. He has grabbed this chance with both hands and has been well led into the limelight by a club that cares.
He could well go on to be one of the very best left-backs that this country has seen – indeed his early credentials to be England’s left back for the next decade are strong.
But as effective as he has been for club this season, he still has areas of improvement to work on before being ready for his transition to one of the biggest clubs in the world.
United are a great club with outstanding heritage, tradition and success, but they need to go back to a talent creation program with a vision for young players to buy into once again, a model that brought so many trophies in the past.
Simply going around overpaying for footballers isn’t representative of United’s fine history of young talent brought the ranks.
In an ideal world, Luke Shaw would sign for five more years at Saints with a view to being sold in 18 months time to a top European side, such as United, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. At that stage he ought to be fully developed, have ironed out the creases in his game and be ready to impose himself at the highest level.
Instead, it looks like he will go down the same sink or swim route that Buttner faced. Hopefully the Dutchman can rediscovers his love and talent for the game at a new club.
