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Manchester United defender Luke Shaw is reportedly set to be included in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad ahead of Euro 2024 in an effort to prove his fitness.
Shaw has endured an injury-riddled campaign that has seen him make only 12 appearances in the Premier League. He has played just 15 games across all competitions.
The full-back has not featured for United since February’s win against Luton Town.
On that occasion, the left-back was taken off just before the break as he was seemingly unable to continue. In the game before that which came vs. Aston Villa, Shaw was replaced during the interval.
The injury picked up in February was Shaw’s second major physical setback this term. He also missed the first three months of the season with another problem.
Erik ten Hag recently admitted that Shaw has a very small chance of being fit for United’s FA Cup final clash against Manchester City this weekend.
The 28-year-old’s absence has been made more profound by the fact that his backup, Tyrell Malacia, has also been experiencing injury issues of his own. Malacia hasn’t tasted even a single minute of action this season.
A report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that United are plotting to sign a new left-back when the summer transfer window opens, with the likes of Melvin Bard (OGC Nice), Miguel Gutierrez (Girona) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves) all believed to be on the club’s radar.
Meanwhile, Shaw would have been concerned by the fact that Euro 2024 is fast approaching and he’s at serious risk of not being included in Southgate’s plans for the summer tournament.
However, The Standard reports that the United defender will be included in England’s training squad on Tuesday despite still being sidelined for the Red Devils.
The newspaper explains, “Southgate adopted a similar strategy three years ago ahead of the last European Championship when he called up a 33-man squad before it was whittled down to 26 on the eve of the finals.”
“A group of around 30 players will be selected on Tuesday and Manchester United defender Luke Shaw is set to get the nod despite his ongoing injury issues.”
“Shaw is likely to be given the chance to prove his fitness by Southgate after a string of excellent displays at previous major tournaments.”
Southgate will name his provisional squad on Tuesday. The Three Lions boss then has to submit his final 26-man group to UEFA by June 7.
England will face Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland on June 3 and June 7 respectively before kicking off their Euro 2024 campaign nine days later when they come up against Serbia.
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