Chelsea are poised to offer £4m for Southampton's Luke Shaw. The young left-back, who turns 17 on 12 July, has made only one first-team appearance for the newly promoted Premier League side – as a substitute in an FA Cup fourth-round replay against Millwall last season – but is regarded as an extremely bright prospect.
A graduate of the Southampton academy which has recently produced Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaw has been monitored closely by Arsenal and Manchester City as well as Chelsea but his future now looks most likely to be at Stamford Bridge.
Shaw was born in Kingston upon Thames but joined Southampton's academy at the age of eight. Described as "technically very gifted" by Sir Trevor Brooking, he has played for the England Under-16 and Under-17 sides. Nigel Adkins, Southampton's manager, has previously pledged to do everything in his power to keep Shaw but may find the overtures of Roberto Di Matteo difficult to resist.
Ashley Cole has been the No1 left-back at Stamford Bridge since joining from Arsenal in 2006 with the 22-year-old Ryan Bertrand as back-up.