Luke Shaw still has Manchester United future despite Mauricio Pochettino comments, says Jose Mourinho

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Luke Shaw still has a future at Manchester United according to his manager Jose Mourinho, despite the left-back revealing his desire to work with Mauricio Pochettino again.

Writing in the epilogue of a new book on Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur, who visit Old Trafford on Saturday, Shaw claimed he enjoyed some of the best days of his career to date under the Argentine at Southampton.

In Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs, the 22-year-old wrote: “I think with Southampton he achieved the impossible. We were one of the best footballing teams in the league… I do hope that I can play for him again one day. And I think he really wants me to play under him again.

“He used to call me his son, that's how good our relationship was. I've had lots of ups and downs, but when I was with Pochettino it was only ever up, up, up.”

Shaw joined United from Southampton in the summer of 2014 but has struggled to establish himself in Manchester and is yet to start for Mourinho’s side this season.

The England international has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford and his remarks on Pochettino have only led to further speculation over his United future.

Mourinho, however, was not upset by the comments and claimed that Shaw was merely being “honest” by admitting his admiration for Pochettino.

“Why not? Because of his words? If you want to speak about his words, I would be very disappointed if his words were different,” Mourinho said.

“I am always disappointed with a player, because he has a new manager becomes the best and the old manager becomes very bad. Football is full of examples of lack of character.

“Luke Shaw was just honest. The manager that helped him to come to the first team, the manager that helped him to develop in the best moment in his career is a manager he does not forget. He's a manger he likes a lot, a manager he would one day like to be reunited with again. For me, the perfect words.”

Mourinho also believes Shaw still has a role to play at United, but warned him that given the competition at left-back, he will have to wait for regular opportunities to impress.

“He has a future here, I think he has, but the situation is not easy,” said Mourinho. “He comes from injury after injury after injury, he needs two, three, four, five, six matches in a row to play, to make mistakes, to get condition, to get match fitness and I cannot give him that in this moment.

“If he was a central midfield player yes, because we have only two but at left-back we have so many options that the situation is not easy. He's in the squad, he works maybe the opportunity comes.”