Football

Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag admits Luke Shaw fears as Tyrell Malacia update given

Published

7 months ago

June 1, 2024

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Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag admits Luke Shaw fears as Tyrell Malacia update given

Luke Shaw has been included in the preliminary England squad for Euro 2024 but is in a race against time after missing the final three months of the season through injury and playing just 12 times throughout for United

Shaw has endured a nightmare campaign

Erik ten Hag fears that the broken leg suffered by Luke Shaw nine years ago is preventing the Manchester United defender from proving himself to be the best left-back in the world.

Shaw, 28, faces a race against time to be fit for the Euros after missing the final three months of the season through injury and featured in just 12 Premier League games as United limped to an eighth-placed finish.

And Ten Hag has admitted that the former Southampton favourite is still paying the price for the horrific double leg break he suffered in a Champions League game at PSV Eindhoven in 2015.

Ten Hag said: “Shaw is the best left-back in the world, he is so good. But he had a very serious injury at the beginning of his career. As a result, he will never be able to play 60 games in a year.”

The damage inflicted on Shaw’s by a challenge from Hector Moreno was so devastating that there were fears he would lose his right leg. He was sidelined for almost a year while his fibula and tibia were on the mend and the scars of the injury are still visible.

Shaw has been one of the most consistent performers for club and country in recent years. But Ten Hag’s first signing when he became United boss in the summer of 2022 was Dutch international left-back Terrell Malacia from Feyenoord.

Malacia, a Dutch international, hasn’t featured at all this term(Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images.)

Malacia, however, was struck down by the casualty curse that descended on Old Trafford last season and didn’t play a single game. Ten Hag said: “Malacia hasn’t played a minute all season. He hasn’t even been on the training pitch once.

“We had recruited Malacia at the start of last season precisely as a back-up for Luke Shaw, those two options had to bring us a lot. The idea with Malacia was very good, and he just did well last season, but this season we never had him.

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