Luke Shaw has suffered a fresh setback in his injury-hit Manchester United career. The left-back arrived at Old Trafford as a highly-rated youngster in 2014, with United splashing out £30million on the Southampton defender to make him the world’s most expensive teenager. Shaw has shown world-class ability for United and England, but his biggest challenge has been staying injury-free. The first significant injury of Shaw’s career was the fractured tibia and fibula he suffered in his second season at the club. While the 29-year-old has enjoyed sustained periods of fitness since then, his career has been dogged by persistent injury issues.

Shaw has only made three appearances this season but seemed to be nearing a comeback in time to compete with new signing Patrick Dorgu. However, he faces another spell on the sidelines due to a setback in his recovery, potentially adding to his dismal injury record at United. According to Transfermarkt, Shaw has suffered 29 injuries during his time at United and spent a remarkable 1,606 days out injured. This has seen Shaw ruled out for 221 United games, which is close to matching his 278 total appearances for the club.

In his debut season, a combination of hamstring and ankle injuries saw Shaw ruled out for 15 games. The worst was still to come, though, as Shaw suffered a double leg fracture against PSV Eindhoven in September 2015 and did not return until the following August, missing 51 games in total. He struggled for fitness during Jose Mourinho’s reign, missing 17 games as United won a League Cup and Europa League double in 2017 before sustaining a seven-month foot injury. Shaw suffered reoccurring hamstring injuries once Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over but was a first-team regular during his time in charge.

The 29-year-old’s fortune continued at the start of Erik ten Hag’s tenure, making 47 appearances and signing a new contract in December 2022. However, a muscle injury saw him miss 34 games last season, and Shaw is four games shy of that total so far this term. Despite Shaw largely being unavailable under new boss Ruben Amorim, the United coach has insisted that he saw the England star as a key part of his plans. Shaw could thrive as a left centre-back in Amorim’s system and has also occasionally played wing-back.

“Sometimes, when you have one or two injuries, it's really hard to recover,” Amorim told Amazon Prime Video. "If he continues with this behaviour, doing everything he can, I will be here. All the staff will be here, as long as it takes. We believe a lot in him, he's so important for our team. For the future, I see in this team, Luke is a very important player for us.". Shaw’s injury issues led United to sign Lecce wing-back Dorgu for an initial £25m in the January window. Before Dorgu’s arrival, Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui were among those asked to fill in at left wing-back.

Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. United have unveiled their new adidas home kit with new front-of-shirt sponsors for the 2024/25 season - and you can get your hands on it right now.