Luke Shaw: Man United defender explained how he “nearly lost his leg” after injury in 2015

Luke Shaw has come an incredibly long way since his horrific double leg break in September 2015 during Manchester United’s Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion.

Shaw, as are many of his United teammates, is currently enjoying one of his best spells at Old Trafford since arriving at the club in the summer of 2014, however, he revealed previously how he may never have been able to play again after the injury.

On England duty back in 2018, Shaw said: “No one knows, but I nearly lost my leg. I was really close to actually losing my leg, and I never knew that until six months later when the doctor told me.”

Shaw’s stitches from breaking his fibula and tibia in his right leg can still be seen today, nearly eight years on. 

Shaw continued: “At the time, they were thinking about flying me back [from Holland], and if I’d flown back, then I would have probably lost my leg because of the blood clots in the leg.”

Thankfully for the 27-year-old, his accurate, left-footed passing ability has remained, which has seen Shaw fill in at centre-back this season in the absence of captain Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez.

“I’ve got two – I don’t want to talk about it too much – but I have two scars down the side of my leg where they had to cut it open and pull them out because of how severe it was,” Shaw said.

Under Erik ten Hag, Shaw has taken his game to another level, both going forward as well as his ability of being able to read the game, hence how he has comfortably slotted in at centre-back, and it’s fantastic for both Manchester United and England that the Southampton academy graduate is fully fit and flourishing.

Written by Aadam Haladh.