Mauricio Pochettino has told clubs wanting to sign Luke Shaw next month they are welcome to make their interest known – but they have no chance of landing him.

The 18-year-old left back has been the subject of yet more speculation linking him with a transfer window move to the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

But Pochettino insists there is no chance of Shaw going anywhere.

“It’s a very clear situation. The player wants to stay and the club is not willing to sell.

“What we also need to consider is he still only 18, still progressing, still learning how to be an experienced player so we need to be very calm about the situation.

“It is taking him some time to mature as a player and I think all these rumours and this speculation around him is not beneficial for him. It’s negative for him.

“It’s also very clear what the project here at Southampton is – it’s a project of young players and Luke Shaw is a prime example of a young player who has come up through the ranks in this club.

“What’s clear is that the player is not for sale and the player has stated he doesn’t want to go anywhere else.

“Other clubs can show their interest, they can come, and journalists can write whatever they want but it’s very clear that the player is not for sale and does not want to go anywhere.

“He is an 18-year-old player, he is growing, he is maturing, he needs to develop himself psychologically, mentally, tactically, technically.

“Not just him, but all the young players in this group are growing, maturing and progressing.

“Right now perhaps we are going through a tough moment of adaptation to this league, and it has been tough on this team, but with calm and with work and being fully focussed on the team I am sure we can go back to winning ways.”

Pochettino admitted that Shaw has been having to adjust to life as a Premier League star, and that some of his other players have had their own adaptations to deal with after finding fame at international level.

“Many of our players, as of late, have been in the spotlight and I think all of my players are going through new experiences that they have to adapt to and get used to.

“They have to live with these new experiences and new situations.

“Also, we need to be able to manage the situation and this is also part of football – not just playing but dealing with these situations.

“We need to assimilate, we need to adapt.

“We are going through a bad run of results of late but with calm and with work we need to get back into how we know we can play.”