Jose Mourinho heaps praise on Luke Shaw amidst talk of his Manchester United exit

Shaw has been linked with a £20m away from the club

Shaw could leave in January (Getty)

Jose Mourinho has once again lavished praise on Luke Shaw after his first Premier League start of the season against Bournemouth on Wednesday night.

It was Shaw’s first league start for more than seven months and after his bright performance in the Champions League win over CSKA Moscow there is renewed hope that he could still salvage his dwindling Old Trafford career.

He was replaced in the second half for Ashley Young as Bournemouth searched for an equaliser and Mourinho admitted afterwards he was impressed with how the left-back had improved.

"Very good, I think both," Mourinho said. "Luke started so-so, which is normal but then improving, improving and improving, confidence levels going really high and he had a fantastic hour of football.

"Then is normal, physically he was feeling the cramps were coming, Eddie was not far from me and understood that, so they tried to force a little bit from that side, I had to bring Ashley on to protect the team and Luke. The reaction from the crowd pleases me because there's not a better thing for a player than that. "

The Independent reported last month that United were willing to let Shaw leave in January for a cut-price £20m deal, a loss of £10m on the £30m they paid Southampton three and a half years ago.

Tactical leaks have already begun emerging from United praising Shaw's fitness, something that interested clubs including Newcastle are known to have been concerned about.

Shaw himself has openly spoken about wanting to play under Mauricio Pochettino again but any move from Tottenham would surely be contingent on Danny Rose, himself linked with a January move, leaving the club.