Paul Scholes urges Man Utd to explore £75m transfer after defender got ‘done’ against Ipswich | Football

Paul Scholes has encouraged Manchester United to resurrect their ‘doable’ transfer move for Lewis Hall after watching Luke Shaw get ‘done’ in the side’s 5-2 win over Ipswich.

Central midfield was identified as United’s primary focus at the start of the summer and the club have signed Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba to bolster Michael Carrick’s options in this area of the pitch.

The Red Devils have also been keen to bring in support and competition for Shaw, the longest serving player at Old Trafford, with Newcastle and England star Lewis Hall placed at the top of the club’s wishlist at left-back.

Hall is said to be ‘keen’ on the idea of a move to the Theatre of Dreams, but Newcastle have unsurprisingly been reluctant to lose a key player they consider one of their ‘untouchables’.

However, according to The Daily Mail, the Magpies could be willing to ‘consider’ a late deal for Hall if they receive an bid upwards of £75million for the 21-year-old defender.

It remains to be seen if United will test Newcastle’s resolve with an offer in that ballpark in the last remaining hours of the transfer window.

Although United bounced back from their opening defeat at Hull City to beat Ipswich, Shaw endured a difficult afternoon up against Abdul Fatawu on Sunday afternoon.

The 31-year-old was beaten all ends up by Fatawu for Leif Davis’ goal on the half-hour mark before Bruno Fernandes scored a stunning hat-trick to inspire his side to victory over the newly promoted Tractor Boys.

‘I think United would have taken going 1-0 down, the way they played in the first half. It could have been two or three,’ Scholes said of United’s performance on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.

‘What we saw yesterday, I think that sums what you’re going to get from United.

‘They could have been two or three down but also, you look at the second half, and they were devastating. They are absolutely devastating going forward.’

Scholes was less than impressed by Shaw’s shaky display at left-back and hopes to see the club step up their pursuit of Hall again while the window remains open for business.

Asked if Carrick will be asking for reinforcements at the back, Scholes replied: ‘100 per cent. That will have been going on for months, you’re not just talking the last couple of days.

‘Do you know one thing that might help Michael? Luke Shaw getting done yesterday [against Ipswich] like he did.

‘So he might go, “Look, we need him”, and you think Lewis Hall might be the most doable who is out there and available.

‘You would have thought some work on that has been done. The amount of rumours there have been, you would have thought some work on that has been done.’

The legendary ex-United and England midfielder would be surprised to see Hall at Old Trafford before the deadline, though, which he fears may cost them

‘It doesn’t feel like they’re going to do anything does it? Lewis Hall was floated about for a bit,’ he added.

‘I don’t think it’s going to happen and this is why United are going to be United again: we’re probably not much different from last year and not much different from the last five years.

‘They can look devastating at times but at times they’ll look like they did in the first half [against Ipswich] where they concede goals.

‘Look, it’s no surprise, who is shocked? You’ve got the same back-four you’ve had for five years. What’s going to change?’

Scholes’ long-time team-mate Rio Ferdinand defended Shaw as he dissected United’s showing on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel shortly after the win.

However, the former United and England centre-back would ideally like to see the club bring in an ‘understudy’ to Shaw while they still have the chance in the transfer market.

Ferdinand said: ‘In a couple of my WhatsApp chats, some United fans were saying, “Luke Shaw, get rid!”… Luke Shaw, over the last year, has been one of our most consistent performers and you’re sitting there saying, “He should be there”, or, “He should be somewhere else”… no!

‘Go and get a left-back that we want to actually bed in over time to be a replacement for someone like Luke Shaw.

‘You think you’re going to go in the market and find someone? It’s like £60m we’d have to pay. We ain’t got that!

‘We haven’t got the budget after paying the amount of money that we have to reinforce the midfield.’

Ferdinand, a six-time Premier League winner with United, argued that one ‘below-par’ game was not enough for fans to start calling for Shaw’s head.

He added: ‘Listen, Luke Shaw has had better games, yes, but is he one where we’re looking to improve that area immediately? No, no. We need back-up in that area now with the thought of long-term.

‘Let’s not get carried away. There’s too many people getting carried away and have personal vendettas against people to try and make people think he’s not good enough.

‘Just look at the last year’s performance. He was one of our top four or five performing players consistency-wise, 100 per cent. One below-par game today doesn’t change things for me.

‘The only thing I would say is in the left-back area, yes, we haven’t got that understudy there where you’re thinking that’s a ready-made replacement looking to come in. We haven’t got that guy right now.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram.

MORE: Arsenal icon Thierry Henry makes ‘confident’ Premier League title claim

MORE: Tottenham make shock enquiry to sign Chelsea forward on loan

MORE: Gary Lineker changes Arsenal title prediction after Chelsea and Man City wins