It’s been a tough old time at Man Utd for Luke Shaw since his move in 2014, as he’s managed just 48 appearances in all competitions.
The 22-year-old has been dogged by injury problems and poor form since his £27m move from Southampton, as per BBC Sport, and three years on he has yet to come close to justifying that price-tag. Further, Jose Mourinho wasn’t shy in publicly slamming him last season, as reported by BT Sport.
In turn, it has undoubtedly been difficult for him, but ultimately from what the Portuguese tactician has said, it doesn’t sound as though he’s been impressing him in training and so therefore he hasn’t earned the right to be a prominent figure in his plans.
That has continued this season as despite recovering from injury, albeit still likely to be well short of full match fitness, Shaw travelled with his teammates for the Champions League meeting with Benfica this week, but didn’t make the squad.
Gary Neville has now weighed in on the situation, and has offered his explanation and solution as to what it will take for Shaw to get back into the Man Utd line-up and ultimately stay there.
“He’s a long way away from that at the moment. You have to build trust, like Valencia has done these last two seasons,” he said, as per ESPN FC.
“I trust Valencia when I watch him and you know he’s going to have a good game, you don’t even question it. That’s what Luke has to do but he hasn’t proven that yet, even though there is a huge talent there.”
That huge talent was on show at Southampton prior to his move to Man Utd, but you have to ask the question as to how long he’ll get to rediscover that kind of form before Mourinho has had enough and cuts his losses on him.
The Red Devils can’t afford to have a glaring weakness in their backline with no natural left-back available at times, and so surely if Shaw can’t prove that he’s a reliable and consistent figure in the team, Man Utd will have to eventually look elsewhere and address the problem with a new signing.