Luke Shaw will consider leaving Manchester United in the summer if he does not play regularly between now and the end of the season.
It is understood the 21-year-old is bemused at the lack of opportunity José Mourinho has given him to fight for a first-team place since the Portuguese became United manager last summer.
Shaw’s longest run of starts for Mourinho is five when the campaign commenced, the first of these being the Community Shield win over Leicester City in early August.
Shaw was publicly criticised by Mourinho following a 3-1 defeat at Watford on 18 September and subsequently dropped. Since then the defender has failed to be selected in the first XI for consecutive Premier League outings. In late October and early November he was given three starts in a row, in the EFL Cup, league and Europa League. Since then, Shaw has made only three starts in nearly four months.
Shaw has been left out by Mourinho for United’s last six games, the manager not deeming him good enough to make the match-day squad for five of these. He last featured on 29 January when he began United’s 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic in an FA Cup fourth round tie at Old Trafford. Shaw had expected to start in Sunday’s fifth round FA Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park but in the event was an unused substitute.
His drop in status under Mourinho was made starker when the Portuguese did not select Shaw in the squad for Wednesday night’s Europa League last-32 second leg against St-Étienne despite the tie being virtually over as United held a 3-0 advantage from the opening match.
Mourinho chose to do so despite also leaving Matteo Darmian, who plays at left-back, at home for the trip. Before beating St-Étienne 1-0 Mourinho left little doubt about Shaw’s current position in the pecking order.
The 54-year-old said: “I am playing with Daley Blind, with Marcos Rojo, with Darmian and all of them are playing the way I like a full-back to play. Luke has to wait for his chance and work better knowing that I give nothing for free. When I give something to the players it’s expensive for them, they have to work really hard every day. They have to play well so he has to wait. In this moment he is behind the others. Potentially he has many things that I like but potential is one thing and another is on the pitch to express all the qualities that I like a player to express.”
Shaw was signed by Louis van Gaal in June 2014 for £27m and suffered a serious leg break in September of the following year in a Champions League group match at PSV Eindhoven that ended his season then.
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