The fact he has played for England in that time is part of the reason why some United fans have given up on Shaw. He worked hard to recover in time to be part of their Euro 2024 squad, was fit enough to start the final against Spain, then returned to Carrington and promptly suffered another setback.
Shaw has now been unavailable for more than 260 United matches since he signed for the club in 2014, and according to Transfermarkt there have been 27 different reasons for absences in that period. They are damning stats for a player who has only played 275 games in a decade at the club.
For that reason, some United fans have given up on Shaw. His fitness record has started to get worse, and the optics of being fit for England but not for United aren’t great, even if that is as frustrating for the player as it is for the supporters.
But the arrival of Amorim could, in theory, offer Shaw the chance of a fresh start. The former Sporting boss is expected to stick with his 3-4-3 system at Old Trafford, and as people have tried to work out his best team, they have often come unstuck at left wing-back.
It seems unlikely Diogo Dalot or Noussair Mazraoui will be played on their wrong flank in that role. Amad and Antony have been offered up as left-footed solutions and Alejandro Garnacho purely to get him in the team. But the obvious solution is Shaw.
His fitness record has led to people writing him off as the kind of athletic wing-back Amorim wants, but he’s the player in the squad with the most experience in a wing-back role on either side. When Shaw gets fit and stays fit, he has the engine and the energy to do e