Phil Neville: Shaw Not Fulfilling Potential At Manchester United

Phil Neville has revealed his frustration with Luke Shaw and admitted on The Debate that the Manchester United left-back needs to move elsewhere to play first-team football.

Shaw has played just 47 minutes of Carabao Cup football this campaign, while he has only made the bench once in the Premier League, in the most recent outing against Newcastle.

The 22-year-old joined United from Southampton in 2014 for £30m, but he has come under criticism from manager Jose Mourinho, who told the defender back in September that he "has to improve" after returning from his latest injury lay-off.

And having scouted Shaw while coaching at United, Neville admitted he was disappointed with the player's development, and thinks he will have to leave Old Trafford to salvage his career.


"Look, he should be England's left-back, 100 per cent. I scouted him for United when I was coach there," Neville said.

"At Southampton I thought, 'He's an England left-back', he was one of the best young left-backs I've seen in a long time. Going forward he had absolutely everything.

"I just find it frustrating now that he's not grasping the opportunity in front of him and fulfilling that potential.

"He needs to play football and I'm not sure that's going to be at United."

Shaw admitted last month that he would like to link up with manager Mauricio Pochettino in the future, having played under the Argentine during his time at Southampton.

With Pochettino now at Spurs, Neville and fellow guest Andy Townsend agreed a swap deal between Shaw and Tottenham left-back Danny Rose could be a possibility.

For Shaw, that could mean taking a pay cut, but Townsend insisted money must come secondary to playing time.

"Jose only wants to work with the best," Townsend said. "If he doesn't put you in that category, then you aren't going to get on with him. Shaw has been unlucky with injuries, but maybe now he has to look within himself."

"He has to contemplate a pay-cut to play regular football. He can't stay hanging around forever and a day waiting for a game at United, and money cannot be his 'God' at this particular stage of his life."

When quizzed by The Debate host Geoff Shreeves over whether Pochettino would be the best manager for Shaw's development, Neville believed the answer was closer to home.

"[Shaw] wants to learn how to defend, so the best manager for him is Jose Mourinho. He's one of the best defensive coaches in the world," Neville added.

"Is Shaw doing everything right to get a spot? He cannot get a spot in a Carabao Cup or Champions League team, when he changes five or six players, so actually I think the penny needs to drop for Luke Shaw."

Credit: Skysports.com