Manchester United legend Denis Irwin says Luke Shaw is an ideal successor for Patrice Evra.
Evra left this month for Juventus.
"I was sorry to see Patrice go, he had eight great years with United and he won so much silverware," Irwin told ManUtd.com. "He was a great character in the dressing room too and a fantastic player on the field. Without doubt, he and Ashley Cole were the best left-backs in the Premier League, if not in the world, for the last eight to ten years.
"But this is a new era for us and it's going to be really interesting to see how Luke Shaw progresses. He's only 18 or 19 but he's had two seasons in the first team at Southampton and he looks a really top player. Southampton have a good track record for producing players from their academy and Luke looks like he's been coached well there.
"Luke knows what he wants to do, particularly going forward, he really does bomb on. And he's a strong and powerful boy; you could see that when he broke into the Southampton team at 17. He'll be learning an awful lot from the new coach. To be coached by Louis van Gaal at the age of 19 is great. He's only going to get better and better."
