New Delhi: Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has reportedly suffered yet another injury setback, keeping him out of action for up to four weeks. According to reliable insider UTD Menace, Shaw’s return to the first team has been halted once again, adding to his frustrating run of fitness issues in recent years. The English defender had recently been reported to have returned to first team training before suffering this latest set back.
The England international has barely featured for United this season due to recurring injuries, and just as he was beginning to integrate back into full training, he now faces another spell on the sidelines. This latest setback is not only a blow for United but also for Shaw himself, as he struggles to maintain consistency in his game. This has become somewhat of a recent trend with Luke Shaw as the defender has consistently struggled with injuries during his time in Manchester.
United were proactive in addressing their left-back concerns in January by signing Patrick Dorgu, ensuring they have adequate cover in Shaw’s absence. Manager Ruben Amorim has previously used makeshift options like Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui at left wing-back, but Dorgu’s arrival will provide a natural fit for the role. Shaw, who earns around £200,000 per week at Old Trafford, has been one of the best left-backs in world football when fully fit.
🚨 BREAKING: Luke Shaw has suffered a setback to his current injury. He’ll be out for at least another four weeks, depending on treatment and rehab. [@UtdMenace] #mufc pic.twitter.com/w1EJcHL9WU
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) February 5, 2025
However, his persistent injury troubles have prevented United from relying on him over the past few seasons, prompting the club’s decision to bolster their defensive options. This latest setback comes at a time when United are already dealing with another major injury blow. Centre-back Lisandro Martinez has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, further depleting United’s defensive options.
While Shaw is expected to return in a month, his ongoing fitness concerns remain a long-term issue for United, raising questions about whether they can continue to count on him as a key player moving forward. Shaw has proven time and again as to why he’s been at the club for so long but with him being so injury prone, it begs the question if it’s time for the club to move on from this once promising youngster?
Luke Shaw’s glimpses of brilliance at United
Yes, Luke Shaw has been at the club for over 10 years now and was a consistent performer at the club for a few seasons but those instances were so far and few in between that they seem like glimpses now. The defender joined the club as the world’s most expensive teenager at the time and showed huge potential at the time. A terrible injury suffered during a UEFA Champions League clash with PSV ruined his early momentum as it threatened to end his career even before it had properly began.
The injury affected the full back’s pace, something that was amongst his best attributes but he finally recovered from all those setbacks to feature regularly for the club from the 2018/19 season. He featured in 71% of United’s games for the next four years but injuries crept in once again that derailed all the momentum he had gained. Shaw went from being one of the best left backs at a time to one that always looked one tackle away from a serious injury. He is definitely one of the best when fit, but the problem remains that he’s barely ever fit.
Luke Shaw’s constant injury issues
Luke Shaw career at Man United (11 seasons):
✅ Available: 3 + 1/2 seasons
❌ Injured: 7 + 1/2 seasons
🏥 Games missed from injury: 330[@fergie_fortress] pic.twitter.com/OEiQktgV2L
— UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) February 5, 2025
Shaw has sadly become somewhat of a permanent feature in the Manchester United’s treatment room, such has been the nature and extent of his injuries. Constant recurring injuries has resulted in the defender making only playing less than 25% of all of Manchester United’s games since the beginning of last season. He has played only in 18 of United’s 71 games since the start of the 2023/24 season. Ever since he made his professional debut back at Southampton, the defender has had over 75 instances of absences due to injuries.
During his time at United, the left back has missed 1738 days due to various injuries, amounting to over four and a half years of missed action. The defender has been unavailable for almost half of his entire Manchester United career and there is nothing that sums up his fitness struggles than this. He has barely featured for the club since the UEFA Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain, making only three appearances for Manchester United in all competitions. The 29-year-old joined Manchester United in 2014 and since then there hasn’t been a single season when he hasn’t suffered an injury.
The 2022/23 season was his best in terms of fitness as he only missed three games that season but apart from that there hasn’t been any season where Shaw hasn’t missed less than 10 games in a season. The injury he suffered against PSV which caused a double fracture in his leg was the worst and saw him miss 64 games but the past two seasons haven’t been great either, with the full back missing 101 games in the last two seasons. In total, during his time at United, the defender has missed a whopping 330 games, which is more than the 278 appearances he has made for the club.
Manchester United’s left back issues and how can they solve them?
With this latest set back suffered by Luke Shaw, left back once again becomes a problem area for Manchester United, giving both the manager and the recruitment team another problem to address in the summer transfer window. Left back has long been a problem area for United given Shaw’s fitness troubles and given the club’s current financial troubles, the board decided to spend all the money they had for this window on the position.
The club brought in Leece’s talented young full-back Patrick Dorgu in the hopes of Shaw’s potential return as the left back had started training. This led to the club also sanctioning Tyrell Malacia’s loan departure to Dutch club PSV but Shaw’s latest setback exposes the position once again for the club. An inexperienced Dorgu remains the only natural left back the club has at their disposal right now with Diogo Dalot being an unsuitable stop gap measure.
🚨With Patrick Dorgu signing, Manchester United are expected to look ways to offload both Luke Shaw and Malacia with Malacia already ‘sold’ this window.
Dorgu & Leon + Amass are the future of left-wing back position for years to come.
Finally we will have proper LB’s. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/XgqlcoF9Gn
— Manchester United Forever (@Utd_Forever7) February 4, 2025
If Dorgu isn’t available for any reason, that would create another problem for the club as Dalot doesn’t seem to be the best suited in the position. The only way the club can deal with this situation currently is by trusting it’s youngsters from the academy. Harry Amass is one name they can call upon with the 17-year-old being a natural left back and was already named on the bench for the Liverpool game last season, which indicates he’s knocking on the door. He’s known to be a tough tackler who can also contribute in attack given his technical skills and is already an England youth International. Another option they can go for is the newly signed Ayden Heaven from Arsenal. Naturally
a center back though, Heaven has played at left back before and can be drafted in if required. The club should look at cutting their losses with Luke Shaw and aim for a solid, first team quality left back in the summer to provide competition to Dorgu and be someone he can learn from given Dorgu’s young age. They should explore the possibility of bringing in Wolves’ Rayan Ait Nouri, who has long been a target for the club and if Wolves go down, it would make him slightly easier to acquire. Another name they can look at is Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez who is making waves this season and given his attacking abilities, he would fit well in Amorim’s system.
The English left back was on his way back from injury but has seemingly suffered yet another injury setback. Is it time for Manchester United to bid adieu to this once rising star come the summer? Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
