Luke Shaw injuries: Man Utd defender has lost four and a half years to injury

Shaw’s injury issues really began to ramp up in 2023, suggesting recurring injuries – particularly those in his hamstrings – have taken their toll.

“When you’re talking about highly tuned athletes, the smallest problem can easily be magnified,” said Ben Dinnery from Premier Injuries.

Dinnery explained that muscle injuries, especially hamstrings, have a particularly high recurrence rate in the first 30 days of returning to playing.

This is not helped by the increased demands placed on players and the need for them to return from injury as quickly as possible.

“Fans sometimes forget that players are asked to be involved and put themselves on the line, when in an ideal scenario you would be keeping them out of the starting 11,” said Dinnery.

“That’s the pressure of the game, it’s a results-based business, that’s how managers are judged. I’m sure Shaw had an open conversation with [former United manager] Erik ten Hag about whether he could play. These are the risks, there is the potential for a setback.”

Dinnery added that in Shaw’s case, his decision to accept an England call-up for Euro 2024 having not played in over three months – impacting his recovery work and pre-season preparations – may have backfired.

In October, former Manchester United defender Phil Jones gave a series of interviews, including with the BBC, about the mental and physical strain of battling with injuries throughout his career.

Jones said when he retired he had to “re-evaluate everything and unpick myself personally and professionally, with therapists and psychologists, to find myself”.