Major blow for United as Shaw suffers injury setback ahead of Leicester game

Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has suffered a fresh setback in his recovery from a calf problem, according to former manager Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag was sacked yesterday, but an early press conference was recorded for the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Leicester City. He revealed the bad news about Shaw.

He said (via the Manchester Evening News): “The process is not going as we expected. That’s the truth. The setback, if you want to call it like this, we want also to do it very careful.

“When he is now dropping again, we want to be very careful.

“We know his past, we have to do this right, because we want him to be available, because he will have a big impact on our performances and also on our levels.

“We can’t have him playing for some games and then drop out again. So, we will do it very carefully.”

The £23 million-rated star made only 15 competitive appearances for United last season. He was sidelined with three different injuries but was still picked by Gareth Southgate for the 2024 European Championship.

Shaw featured for the Three Lions at the back end of the tournament. However, he picked up a calf injury in his first training session on his return to United this summer.

Ten Hag initially predicted that Shaw could return shortly after the October international break, but the latest update suggests that the left-back’s absence will extend for some time.

The unreliability of Shaw and Tyrell Malacia clearly suggests that United need to spend big on a marquee left-back. Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are not long-term solutions.

Both players are right-backs by trade. Ruben Amorim is the front-runner to succeed Ten Hag as manager and he could demand a new left-back when the transfer window reopens.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com.