Luke Shaw still has Manchester United future, says Jose Mourinho

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho insists Luke Shaw could still have a future at the club but admits it will be difficult for the defender to force his way into the reckoning.

Shaw’s turbulent spell under Mourinho has pushed him to the brink of leaving and reports emerged at the start of the week suggesting Shaw’s relationship with Mourinho had hit rock bottom.

Any hopes Shaw had of salvaging his Old Trafford career appeared to plummet further after alleged quotes surfaced of Shaw stating his desire to reunite with Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino in the future.

Shaw made just his second appearance of the season in United’s 2-0 League Cup win over Swansea on Tuesday after coming on from the bench with a few minutes to spare.

The 22-year-old’s current deal is not due to expire until the end of next season after United activated their option to a further 12 months, but Mourinho has conceded the left-back faces a difficult challenge to establish himself as a first-team regular.

 “Why not?” Sky Sports quote Mourinho as saying when asked if Shaw still has a future at United. “If you want to speak about his words [about Pochettino] – I would be very disappointed if his words were different. For me, they are the perfect words.

“I’m always disappointed when a player has a new manager, the new manager becomes the best and the old manager becomes very bad.

“Football is full of examples of lack of character, Luke Shaw was just honest. The manager that helped him come to the first team, the manager who brought him to the best point of his career.

“It’s a manager that he doesn’t forget, it’s a manager that he likes a lot and it’s a manager that maybe one day he would like to be reunited [with] again.

“He has a future here, but the situation is not easy because he comes from injury, after injury, after injury. He needs [a lot] of matches in a row to play, to make mistakes, to get conditioned, to get match fitness and at this moment I can’t give him that.

“If he was a central midfield player, yes, because we have only two. But at left-back we have so many options that the situation is not easy. But he’s in the squad, he works and maybe the opportunity comes.”