Man Utd Made to Pay for Summer Transfer Window Shortcomings With Worrying Injury Update
Manchester United are sweating over the fitness of left back Luke Shaw after he missed Thursday’s Champions League victory over Sabah through injury.
Shaw, the only natural left back in Michael Carrick’s squad, limped off in the dying embers of the weekend’s draw with Everton and was nowhere to be seen against Sabah, with the manager confirming Shaw’s condition needs monitoring before Sunday’s blockbuster meeting with Manchester City.
“It’s a little bit of [managing him],” Carrick said of Shaw’s absence before the game. “He came off the other day with a little bit of cramp. We didn’t want to take any risks really.
“We tried to manage him so we will see how he is after this one.”
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The One Issue Michael Carrick Hoped to Avoid
The 2025 summer transfer window was all about attackers and it was the turn of the midfielders in 2026, with United spending heavily on Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba.
While United fans recognized the need to bolster at the heart of the park, the window ended with an air of disappointment at the failure to land another left back to compete with Shaw over a season in which the Red Devils are back in four competitions once again.
To have that limited squad depth tested so soon after the window closed is almost poetically comical, with United hoping they will not immediately be forced to regret the decision not to bolster at the back.
In Shaw’s place against Sabah came Patrick Dorgu, whose natural position remains somewhat of a mystery. The Denmark international has been playing on the left wing under Carrick but was signed primarily as an attacking wing back to slot seamlessly into Ruben Amorim’s ultimately doomed 3-4-2-1 setup.
Dorgu faced no problems against Sabah, which hardly came as a surprise. The Azerbaijani league leaders deserve plenty of credit for qualifying for the Champions League, but there was destined to be a major gulf in quality between the two sides on Thursday. The same cannot be said for Sunday’s derby.
Jamaican international Kaheem Parris was Dorgu’s challenge on Thursday. On Sunday, it will be any of Antoine Semenyo, Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki.
Man Utd’s Alternatives at Left Back
Carrick will want to get at City, particularly at home, but the reality is the freedom to throw everything forwards is simply not going to be there like it was against Sabah. Dorgu’s forward-thinking approach could be too risky.
The hope will be that Shaw is available once again. The 31-year-old is clearly not suffering from anything particularly serious, but that will only fill Carrick with limited optimism given Shaw’s lengthy struggles with injury over the years. He is one of those players for whom taking risks is almost entirely off the table.
If Shaw is not ready to start or complete 90 minutes, Carrick may prefer somebody slightly more reliable on the defensive end. His options are over on the other side of the pitch, with the versatility of right backs Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui likely to be called upon plenty of times over the coming months.
Mazraoui was the preferred deputy for Shaw last season and is likely to retain that role this time around.
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