Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has partly blamed the club for his injury woes.
The former Southampton stopper led the list of Man United players who were sidelined on multiple occasions in the just-concluded 2023-24 campaign.
As per Transfermarkt, Man United ranked among the top four Premier League clubs with the most cases of injuries in 2023-24 behind Brentford, Newcastle United, and Chelsea.
The Red Devils recorded 35 separate injury cases with 233 games missed in total by injured players.
For Luke Shaw, it was a nightmare. The England defender was sidelined three times with separate injury cases.
His first injury in the season lasted for 13 days and saw him miss 3 games. The cause of the injury was undisclosed.
His second injury (a muscle cramp) saw the player ruled out of action for three months and two days, missing 13 games.
After surviving the two injury incidents, Shaw was sidelined again for the third time with another muscle issue. This time, he spent a lengthy 112 days on the sidelines, missing 18 games.
The last time Shaw tasted football action was in February against Luton Town. Reports have hit that the highly-rated defender did not fully recover when he was brought back to action against Aston Villa before worsening the case during the Luton match.
Reflecting on his injury travails, Luke Shaw partly blamed his club Manchester United for a poor handling of the injury incidents, leading to complications.
According to him, his injury crisis was partly caused by him, the club, and medical officers because he would not defy the manager and refuse to play for United if he is asked to.
“It’s kind of everyone’s fault. Partly my fault, partly medical staff. I think everyone would admit that.
“There wasn’t too much on the scan. I didn’t train all week, then trained the day before the game.
“If the manager asks me to play, I’m never going to say no. But I shouldn’t have played.”
Despite his fitness issues, Gareth Southgate included Shaw in his final 26-man squad following an impressive fitness drill during the 33-man training camp sessions.
However, the Man United defender is expected to miss England’s Euro opener against Serbia on June 16 but is expected to be ready for action in subsequent group matches against Denmark and Slovenia.
