FORMER England star Paul Scholes has hit out at Manchester United’s desire to pay a huge fee for Saints left back Luke Shaw.

He believes his former club's desire to pay a huge fee for the 18-year-old - reported in some places to be as high as £34m - will have a 'bad long term' impact on the Premier League - and the English national team as a result.

"Compared to La Liga and the Bundesliga, English players are not getting enough first-team time in the Premier League," said Scholes.

"We're going backwards from 1990 and the era of Paul Gascoigne and that conveyor belt of talent. Simply, the Premier League is riddled with average foreign players. This is having a detrimental effect on the opportunities for young English talent and our international results.

"Players as talented as David Silva, Robin van Persie, Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard only make the Premier League stronger. But it seems the Premier League is known as a market for average players (or their agents) to say: 'I'll go to England and they'll pay me stupid money to play'.

"The proposed £34m transfer for Luke Shaw to United is another example of something which has a bad long-term impact.

"Clubs are priced out of this market which is why they go abroad for cheap options.

"For a left back to be worth £34m shows how silly the game has gone."