Luke Shaw 'can be next Ashley Cole'

ByRichard Jolly ESPN logo
Tuesday, July 1, 2014

England coach Roy Hodgson has said he believes new Manchester United signing Luke Shaw can be the new Ashley Cole.

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Hodgson took Shaw, 18, to the World Cup in Brazil as understudy to Leighton Baines ahead of Cole, England's most-capped left-back.

And he believes the defender, who became the world's most expensive teenager when he moved to Old Trafford from Southampton for 27 million pounds, can reach the same heights as Cole, who ended his international career earlier this summer on 107 caps.

"I really do think Luke has got tremendous quality," he told the FA website. "I think he's really an Ashley Cole in the making."

Shaw won his fourth cap in the 0-0 draw against Costa Rica, becoming the second youngest footballer to play for England in the World Cup, and Hodgson said: "I think the experience will do him good.

"Also, I think he will be a very useful player for us in games where we can use the enormous power he has going forward.

"We agonised over those positions, especially in the case of Luke because it involved Ashley Cole, who all of us love to bits and think is a great footballer."