Is it? A pacey left back that is strong,good in the air, has a great touch, solid in defence and decent going forward isn't the easiest thing to find. If it was then why spend £30m on ours? This sort of thing is exactly what was said when Bridge was replaced by Le Saux. It was a terrible deal and one that saw us far far weaker after Wayne had gone. I seem to recall the same thing was said of Bale, "too much money to turn down and we can use that cash to strengthen the squad", but his sale took us from promotion candidates to relegation fodder.
A left back can and currently does make our side tick. When Shaw is not in the side, we don't just concede more goals but we also struggle to create chances. I agree he is likely to leave, the kind of wages man city, united and Chelsea can offer would turn anyone's heads, but don't think for a second that all that cash will make it easy to replace him.