Luke Shaw’s relationship with Mourinho was never stable, to begin with. The English full-back has only made a handful of appearances for the Red Devils this season. It was reported earlier that Mourinho was unimpressed with the player’s fitness, lack of tactical knowledge and lazy attitude.
Things did become smooth for a while but circumstances have boiled up again with Mourinho once again criticizing the defender in public.
Mourinho said on Saturday that he chose to substitute Shaw rather than Valencia because “at least Antonio defensively was capable of good positioning”.
“Luke, in the first half, every time they came in his corridor, the cross came in and a dangerous situation was coming,” the Portuguese said.
“I was not happy with his performance.”
This has left Shaw’s future in the club in doubt. Here are three alternatives United could look at to replace Shaw.
Danny Rose
Highly regarded as one of the best fullbacks in the current English national squad, Danny Rose is highly expected to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer with Manchester United having identified him as their transfer target before as well.
With years of e Premier League experience, Danny Rose has all the qualities needed to emerge as a top-notch Manchester United fullback. Considering the fact that Manchester United will need fullbacks who can go on the overlap, Danny Rose’s offensive output could be significantly beneficial for the Red Devils.
Kieran Tierney
Manchester United have already identified Kieran Tierney as their favoured alternative should the Danny Rose deal fail to move to forward. The Celtic youth academy product has raised a lot of noise through his impressive performances this season in the Scottish Premiership and was recently awarded a long-term contract.
He is still young but the Scottish fullback has already established himself as an integral member of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic first team and is gaining a lot of attention from top clubs around Europe. His leadership qualities matched by his fight till the last ball spirit is something United fans would love to see. The young talented could definitely be a very good long-term solution for the Red Devils.
Faouzi Ghoulam
The talented defender had been in excellent form this season and has helped his team to the top of the table in Serie A. However, back in October the 26-year-old suffered a serious ACL injury that has ruled him out for the rest of the season.
The full-back has a mammoth £53 million release clause and it Manchester United could be ready to activate that clause to solve their left-back crisis. He is an attacking minded defender who can run laps all day and could be a vital asset to the Old Trafford team.
