Man Utd's secret Vidic, Ferdinand replacement: Shawcross

Ryan Shawcross is on the brink of realising his dream of earning his first cap for England but his call-up to the national squad for the friendly against Sweden has put Manchester United on alert and Stoke on the defensive.

Although Shawcross' current contract does not expire until the summer of 2014, Shawcross's recent progression into the England ranks has put him in the shop window.

It is why Shawcross is understood to have been offered a new six-year deal to ward off any predators, notably Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who considers him to be a replacement for injury prone Nemanja Vidic and aging defender Rio Ferdinand.

Ironically the 25 year-old defender joined Stoke from United in 2008 for £1 million at a time when Ferguson's squad was heavy on defenders.

But in his programme notes for last month's game with Stoke, Ferguson suggested he had made the wrong decision in letting Shawcross go.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis is "hoping and praying" Shawcross will see out his career with the club, but will not stand in his way should a bigger team come calling.

"We're hoping and praying Ryan will be a Stoke player for the rest of his life.

"But if a top-three, top-four club came in, and they paid the money, there is no way in a million years we would be able to prevent Ryan from going."

Shawcross wants to prove he has what it takes to become a Three Lions regular after his third call-up to the national squad.

He said: “It’s always good to come away with the national team and now I’ve been a few times I’m starting to feel at home.

“If you’re playing well, you get noticed. At Stoke last year, we played in Europe and that got us a few headlines.

“On a personal note, if I’m doing OK and being consistent, then I always felt that I had enough to hopefully break into the England squad and luckily enough I have done, so I want to stay in it.

“There’s a lot of experienced players ahead of me and it’s up to me to perform well in training. Hopefully I can play well when I get a chance.”

Shawcross represented Wales as a schoolboy but insists he was only ever going to choose England to play for at senior level.

He added: “I decided years ago I wanted to play for England.

“I spoke to Chris Coleman, and Gary Speed before that, and made it clear that I wanted to play for England, so there was never any choice really.”