The reason why Chelsea did not sign Luke Shaw

Cape Town - Chelsea's outspoken boss José Mourinho has revealed the reason why Chelsea failed to sign England's young left back Luke Shaw.

As with most things in football these days, it was about the money.

According to the Guardian, Mourinho was interested in the Southampton left back but instructed Chelsea to pursue other targets after the player demanded a weekly wage in the region of £130 000.

“If we pay to a 19-year-old boy what we were being asked for, to sign Luke Shaw, we are dead,” he said. “We would have killed our stability with financial fair play and killed the stability in our dressing room.

“Because when you pay that much to a 19-year-old kid – a good player, fantastic player – but when you pay that amount of money, the next day, we would have had players knocking on our door.

Chelsea went on to sign Atletico Madrid star Filipe Luis while Shaw ultimately sealed a move to Manchester United.

Luis will face Shaw and Manchester United when Chelsea travel to Old Trafford on October 26.