Luke Shaw’s Extensive Injury History Detailed

Luke Shaw described his most recent injury “small setback” as “extremely tough to come to terms with reality.” On Tuesday, Manchester United defender Luke Shaw shared on Instagram about his newest injury setback, expressing “absolute devastation” and stating it was “definitely” his “toughest period.” This sentiment comes from an athlete who endured a severe double leg break in 2015 and has accumulated four and a half years of absence due to various injuries. Attention on Shaw’s physical condition intensified during the summer when England manager Gareth Southgate’s decision regarding his Euro 2024 squad inclusion led to only two substitute appearances and a starting position in the final match against Spain. The 29-year-old Shaw has participated in only three substitute appearances for United this season, having suffered hamstring and calf injuries in February and August, respectively. Within his social media message, Shaw recognized “frustrated, angry, disappointed” critics, but asserted that “no-one is feeling that more than me.” BBC Sport, utilizing data from PremierInjuries.com, examined the statistics related to Shaw’s injuries. Since his professional debut for Southampton in 2012 at the age of 16, Shaw has experienced 75 distinct periods of unavailability. Of these absences, 61 were injury-related, and 14 were due to illness. Thirteen of these injuries affected his hamstrings. Prior to this week’s new setback, Shaw had been sidelined for 1,675 days because of injury, equating to just over four and a half years. The double leg break he sustained in September 2015 contributed 305 days to that total. Illnesses, such as contracting Covid in March 2022, have resulted in 126 days of absence, which is slightly over four months. Shaw participated in 71% of Manchester United’s Premier League matches from the 2018-19 through the 2022-2023 seasons. Since the commencement of the 2023-24 season, Shaw has played in only 14 of United’s 51 Premier League games (18 out of 73 across all competitions) – representing 27.5% of United’s league fixtures (24.7% in all competitions). Shaw’s injury problems significantly escalated in 2023, indicating that recurring issues, especially with his hamstrings, have had a considerable impact. Ben Dinnery of Premier Injuries stated, “When you’re talking about highly tuned athletes, the smallest problem can easily be magnified.” Dinnery clarified that muscle injuries, particularly those affecting hamstrings, exhibit a notably high recurrence rate within the initial 30 days following a player’s return to action. This situation is exacerbated by the heightened demands on players and the pressure for them to recover from injuries as swiftly as possible. Dinnery remarked, “Fans sometimes forget that players are asked to be involved and put themselves on the line, when in an ideal scenario you would be keeping them out of the starting 11.” He continued, “That’s the pressure of the game, it’s a results-based business, that’s how managers are judged. I’m sure Shaw had an open conversation with [former United manager] Erik ten Hag about whether he could play. These are the risks, there is the potential for a setback.” Dinnery further suggested that Shaw’s choice to accept an England call-up for Euro 2024 despite not having played for more than three months – which affected his recovery and pre-season training – might have had negative consequences. In October, Phil Jones, a former Manchester United defender, conducted several interviews, including one with the BBC, discussing the mental and physical toll of career-long injury struggles. Jones stated that upon retirement, he needed to “re-evaluate everything and unpick myself personally and professionally, with therapists and psychologists, to find myself.”