After watching Luke Shaw emerging as one of the best left backs in the Premier League, Manchester United are looking to reward him with a lucrative new deal.
Shaw has suffered since arriving at Old Trafford in 2014, and his career seemed to be jeopardized after the £15 million signing of Brazilian Alex Telles from Porto last summer. However, Shaw has reacted admirably and has secured a recall to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the first time since November 2018.
According to The Mirror, it might not be Shaw’s only incentive, as the club aims to re-sign him to new contracts, putting his still sizable salary in line with the majority of the club’s undisputed starters.
It’s uncertain how much of a pay increase he could get. Shaw’s current weekly salary is projected to be between £120,000 and £190,000, while highest earner David de Gea earns about £325,000 per year.
Shaw’s existing contract has two years left on it, and United has the option to renew it by another year, but there’s no urgency to start these negotiations. However, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is said to want to show his commitment to Shaw by giving him this new deal, and it’s easy to see why.
This season, Shaw has made 35 starts in all competitions, 30 of which have been as a starter. Only once has he played more than that, in 2018/19, when injuries plagued him for the first three years of his united career.
Shaw has not only resolved his fitness problems, but he has also mixed health with form to establish himself as one of the Premier League’s best left backs this season.
It’s a recovery tale that has piqued Southgate’s attention, and the England manager was swift to applaud Shaw for his determination in recovering from injury.
“I think we talk a lot about coaches and managers and their effect on teams, but at the end of the day, you have to give players a lot of respect as they bounce back from failure and tough injuries,”
he said (via the Manchester Evening News).
“When they recover their form, it’s usually after a lot of soul-searching, hard work on the training floor, and life change and planning. In this squad, Luke and John [Stones] in particular deserve a lot of praise for that.
“In Luke’s case, his defending has been aggressive, which I’ve appreciated. He hasn’t let wingers settle in, he’s been physical in his defending, and he’s shown tremendous ambition in his attacking play, getting forward even more than he has in the past and leading to the development of far more chances.
“WE’RE TRUSTING IN HIS WILLINGNESS TO DO SO. WE’RE ECSTATIC; HE’S WORKED HARD FOR HIS OPPORTUNITY, AND HE DESERVES TO BE THERE.”
Comments are closed.