91Èȱ¬

Manchester United are refusing to comment on reports they have made a £27m offer for teenager Luke Shaw.

Sources close to the Southampton defender have indicated a bid has been made but United are staying silent.

Earlier, before news of the bid became public, Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger said he expected interest in a number of Saints players.

"The reason people look at our players is because the club does an excellent job developing them," he told the 91Èȱ¬.

"It should be difficult here every summer."

Left-back had been one of the priority areas for David Moyes before he was sacked by United last month.

Current first-choice Patrice Evra is out of contract in the summer and there have been no indications whether the France defender will be offered an extension.

Moyes made a from Everton last summer and was also unsuccessful when he tried to get Fabio Coentrao on loan from Real Madrid on deadline day.

Shaw, 18, has remained on the radar during what has become United's worst Premier League campaign, which ended with a 1-1 draw at Southampton on Sunday as they finished seventh.

Officials from United, believed to be close to appointing Netherlands manager Luis van Gaal as their new boss, have already indicated they would be willing to sign players without a manager being in place.

Given Ashley Cole's international retirement, Shaw seems certain to be named in England's World Cup squad when it is named by Roy Hodgson on Monday.

Saints captain Adam Lallana is wanted by Liverpool, while there is uncertainty about the future of manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has one year left on his contract.

The manager intends to hold talks with the club's owners on Monday, but stopped short of saying he wanted to remain at St Mary's.

"This is the end of a five-year project. We have achieved what we wanted from this project and now a new project has to start," he told 91Èȱ¬ Sport.

"The board has to decide how that happens - two years, three years or four years - I just want to sit down and talk and we will see what happens."

Krueger told 91Èȱ¬ Radio Solent there has been no contact from Tottenham regarding the services of Pochettino and that Southampton "have not understood the panic" about the manager's future.

But on the wider issue he added: "It is really important that people respect that there will be conversations going on, beginning on Monday, with clubs. That is part of the business."