Luke Shaw is set to remain on the side lines as the Manchester United defender reportedly “suffers another injury setback” in a major blow for Ruben Amorim.
An inside source at Old Trafford, as relayed by Give Me Sport, reveals Shaw is set for another “four weeks” on the side lines after yet another injury setback. The report even suggests the time line for a return could be longer as the estimate is “depending on treatment and rehab”.
Give Me Sport contend the source is a “reliable insider” for United news, having correctly revealed Lisandro Martinez’s minor absence earlier in the season.
But it’s the Argentine defender’s latest issue – a devastating cruciate ligament injury – which is most affected by this update on Shaw’s delayed return to first-team action.
Martinez was forced off the field on a stretcher on Sunday at Old Trafford after going down under a challenge while clutching his knee.
It was a heart-breaking moment for the 27-year-old defender who has suffered repeated major injuries since arriving at United in 2022, despite never having been injury-prone in his career prior to the move.
One potential solution to the Argentinian international’s absence would have been Shaw, who was pictured in first-team training last week.
Shaw has thrived in a centre-back position before for the Red Devils with Amorim’s three-man defence offering the England international the perfect platform for this positional switch.
While the Portuguese coach would likely have preferred to deploy Shaw at left wing-back over the past couple of months, the arrival of Patrick Dorgu from Lecce would have enabled Amorim to replace Martinez instead.
This centre-back berth would also have helped protect Shaw from the intense physical demands of the LWB position, allowing the 29-year-old to continue his return in relative peace.
However, as has become a depressingly permanent routine for the left-back, he now appears to have suffered another injury, requiring further rehabilitation and time away from the pitch.
Amorim has now suffered the loss of the most best options at the club for the LCB role and the 39-year-old coach must feel like Old Trafford is more of a Stage of Nightmares than the Theatre of Dreams since arriving from Lisbon in November.
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
