Luke Shaw’s future at Manchester United appears up in the air after the club reportedly agreed a deal to bring Girona left back Miguel Gutierrez to the club this summer. The player is set to be the subject of a bizarre transfer triangle before ending up at Old Trafford.
He moved to his current La Liga club from Real Madrid in 2022, but the Spanish giants inserted a buy-back clause that is said to be in the region of just £6.7million.
And according to reports in Spain, Real will promptly resign the 22-year-old, but have already struck a deal with United to immediately sell him to the Premier League club for a loftier fee of £34million.
Carlo Ancelotti already has French international Ferland Mendy as an option in that department, while the club have also been linked with a move for Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies. Therefore, the prospect of Guttierez being brought back to the Bernabeu long-term are remote.
The player has become a fan favourite for Girona having made 76 appearances in his three seasons there. And the Under-21 international was pivotal last season as the club qualified for the Champions League.
The development suggests United manager Erik ten Hag has finally lost patience with Shaw. The 28-year-old moved to the club from Southampton in 2014, but his decade-long stint at Old Trafford has been plagued by injuries.
Indeed, he made just 15 appearances in all competitions for the clubs in the 2023/24 season, amid two lengthy lay offs. A muscle problem picked up in August 2023 kept him out for three months, only for their England international to then injure his hamstring in February this year.
He’s not played since, missing United’s FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May. Despite his lack of action, Shaw was still called up by Gareth Southgate for Euro 2024, amid a lack of recognised left back’s at the England manager’s disposal.
Shaw is yet to get on the pitch in Germany though, and spent the first two weeks of the tournament training away from the rest of the squad. He was declared fit for Sunday’s last-16 clash with Slovakia, but remained an unused substitute.
Ten Hag faced selection issues at left-back last season, with Tyrell Malacia joining Shaw for a lengthy spell on the sidelines. As a result, the likes of Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were deployed there, with the club now moving to solve the problem.
The development comes in the same week that United finally agreed a deal with Newcastle to bring sporting director Dan Ashworth to the club. The 53-year-old is expected to be handed responsibility for overseeing transfer deals, with business expected to soon ramp up at Old Trafford.
