Manchester United; Luke Shaw has a big year ahead

Manchester United, have set about the 2016/17 season keen for trophies, with all the all the talk of Jose Mourinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba arriving, it is easy to forget the “old school” players hungry for blood; Most notably the returning Luke Shaw.

With all the summer activity at Manchester United it is easy to forget that a player returning from a long-term injury is often just as good as a new signing. Especially when the returning player is a bright young English talent.

Luke Shaw, who turned 21 on July 12th, is returning after missing 11 months due to a horrific double leg break picked up in Manchester United’s opening Champion’s League group game against PSV Eindhoven, having been caught by Hector Moreno while dashing forward down the left flank. It was a major blow to both player and club, as Shaw’s season had begun so brightly.

The player was beginning to fulfill his potential and live up to the £30 million price the red devils had paid Southampton to secure his services; A world record amount for a teenager.

More from Playing for 90

Shaw made his debut for the Southampton first team at the very young age of 16, and it was clear this was a player to watch for the future. He signed for Manchester United in the summer of 2014 at a time when the club was transitioning from the short-lived David Moyes era, to the heavily criticized Louis Van Gaal era.

Difficult beginnings;

This was not an easy time to come to Old Trafford and at the age of 19, Luke Shaw came under immediate criticism from Van Gaal, who repeatedly questioned the teenager’s fitness level and weight following the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The 2014/2015 season didn’t get much easier for the London born youngster, with a hamstring injury keeping him out of Manchester United’s first team for their first 3 league games.(They failed to record a single win in any of these games it’s worth noting).

When he did return from injury he was left on the bench for the next 2 games eventually making his competitive debut playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 win over West Ham at the theatre of dreams.

Things started to pick up for Shaw, making a string of starts and even earning himself a nomination for the 2014 “Golden Boy” award; An award given to the player considered to be Europe’s most promising young player.

However in early 2015 Van Gaal seemed to lose faith in Shaw following a red card picked up for 2 yellows against West Ham. He found his first team opportunities quite scarce as Manchester United limped into a top four finish.

The following year started much brighter for the left back, starting every game until that terrible, unfortunate injury. Hector Moreno was so troubled by the damage inflicted to Shaw he even visited him in the hospital to apologize.

Returning to full training in April 2016, Luke Shaw now looks to put the turmoil of the last few years behind him and set his sights to glory under new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
Team-mate Ander Herrera recently told the Daily Mail he believes Shaw to be “one of the best left backs in the world.’

Hopefully an extended run in the first team will see others around the league echo that statement. With all the publicity surrounding Zlatan and Pogba, it’s quite possible Manchester United’s biggest game changer could be the young Englishman’s return.