Mourinho: Shaw's In Great Shape

Luke Shaw has already impressed new manager Jose Mourinho after winning his battle to be available for Manchester United's opening pre-season friendly at Wigan Athletic.

Shaw was named in Mourinho's first line-up as Reds manager on Saturday afternoon, thus ending a ten-month absence from action following his leg fracture in September 2015.

"The worst thing in football is long-term injuries," said Mourinho, in his pre-match interview with MUTV - the only channel showing Wigan v United live.

"I was expecting him to start the pre-season with some limitations - a little bit of weight and less sharpness. But the physical point of view is good and more than that, the mental point of view is good. The kid was great in the summer. He worked every day at the training ground to try to be ready for this."

Shaw started against Wigan in a defence which also featured new signing Eric Bailly. Speaking of the Ivory Coast international, Mourinho said: "For Eric this is the first time he will wear a shirt like the Manchester United shirt.

"He can’t speak English and can only communicate with the ones who are French speakers or Spanish so for him it’ll be step by step and that’s why I will give him more than 45 minutes.

"I want to give him 65 or 70 minutes because he needs to play more than others. He needs to feel it and start communicating."

Bailly was joined in making his unofficial debut by fellow summer recruit Henrikh Mkhitaryan with Mourinho adding: "Micki is a player with experience and he’s comfortable because he speaks fluent English. I think it will be a nice 45 minutes for him."

Bailly, Mkhitaryan, Shaw and the other 19 players involved in United's match at Wigan will next embark on Tour 2016, presented by Aon, which begins with two matches in China on 22 and 25 July.

"Next week we have Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City and we will go again with the same players," Mourinho told MUTV. "We are going to face good teams with almost every player ready for these matches."

Credit: Manutd.com