Manchester United in race to sign Southampton defender Luke Shaw

Manchester United face a race against time to sign Luke Shaw before England leave for Brazil on Sunday week.

The left-back is believed to be set on a move to Old Trafford and a bid approaching £30m is understood to have seen off competition from Chelsea and Manchester City to win the race for Shaw.

However, with no manager in place after the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, a relatively new chairman at the helm and with Director of Football Les Reed negotiating with Liverpool over the proposed move for Rickie Lambert, United are finding it difficult to push the deal through.

Once Shaw leaves for England’s World Cup training camp next weekend, the transfer will most likely have to wait until after the tournament to be completed, although a failure to secure his services before he departs for Brazil may put the whole move in jeopardy.

The deposed Premier League champions are believed to have offered Shaw a £100,000 a week deal, substantially higher than the player’s other suitors.

As well as Shaw and Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren could be on the verge of leaving St. Mary’s with Liverpool and Tottenham credited with an interest in the pair.