Luke Shaw issues England injury update as Man Utd star out to prove Euro 2024 fitness

Manchester United full-back Luke Shaw has provided England with a significant fitness boost ahead of Euro 2024. Shaw was considered a major doubt for the tournament due to a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since February.

However, he has been “on the grass” and participating in team training exercises over the past two days.

While Shaw hasn’t been subjected to intense sessions, his involvement is a significant step forward in his recovery from injury. This comes as positive news for England manager Gareth Southgate, who recently provided an update on Shaw’s comeback, stating that he was “progressing well.”

Initially, Southgate had deemed Shaw’s chances of making the tournament a “long shot” when he included him in his 33-man training squad. The England boss now has until 11pm on Friday to whittle down his squad to 26 players and submit his final list to UEFA.

Despite his limited playing time, Shaw will be hoping to secure a spot by proving his fitness to Southgate on the training pitch.

Southgate noted that the ability to select 26 players instead of 23 allows for some risk-taking with injured players. Harry Maguire, Shaw’s teammate at United, remains a question mark for the opening match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on June 16.

Kieran Trippier filled in as left-back in the recent friendly against Bosnia, while Joe Gomez is another potential replacement. However, Shaw’s importance cannot be understated, and if there’s a chance he could feature in the knock-out stages, it’s likely England would include him in the squad.

Maguire and Kyle Walker both battled back from injury to feature in the final group matches at Euro 2020 and the World Cup in Qatar respectively, giving Shaw hope of being included by Southgate. England’s final Group C contest against Slovenia in Cologne takes place on June 25.

This timeline offers Luke Shaw a further three weeks for recovery.

Shaw suffered a hamstring setback during a clash against Luton on February 18. As a result, he missed the remainder of United’s season, including the FA Cup final win over Manchester City.

“There’s 33 who are desperate to be involved and we know the qualities that he has and absolutely what he’s capable of doing,” Southgate said this week. “That’s not in any question. As I said (before), he’s a player that we love having with the group and, for us, he’s a great character to work with.”