Man Utd demand first-team star to take pay cut to stay at the club

Manchester United spent the summer of 2025 trying to offload unwanted players including Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Tyrell Malacia and Antony.

The United quintet, dubbed the 'bomb squad', were eventually shipped out either permanently or on loan, and the wisdom of their apparent treatment was widely questioned.

Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko were among the players who moved the other way but Ruben Amorim, the head coach whose name is often attached to the shuffling of five first-teamers towards the door, couldn't get the results he need to save his job.

United appear to have adopted a more measured approach to this summer transfer window after securing a return to the Champions League under then-interim head coach Michael Carrick.

Luke Shaw has struggled with injury throughout his career but started all 38 Premier League games in 2025-26, just as he reaches his imminent 31st birthday with a year left on his deal.

According to reports, United's response to Shaw's contractual situation this summer is to find a sustainable way to keep him beyond the summer of 2027.

"The left back currently earns £200,000-a-week and United are not expected to offer the same salary," reports The Sun correspondent Samuel Luckhurst.

"If United decide to keep Shaw, it could be on a similar arrangement to Harry Maguire’s renewal in April.

"Maguire’s basic salary was reduced from £200,000-a-week but United’s Champions League qualification and additional clauses meant he could earn more overall from the one-year arrangement, which does include a one-year extension."

Shaw, who missed out on a place in England's World Cup squad despite being consistently available last season and having 34 senior caps and a European Championship final goal to his name, moved to Old Trafford from Southampton in 2014.

Man Utd are reportedly willing to do a deal with their stalwart full-back

He has played 325 times for the Red Devils under nine different permanent or interim managers, beginning with Luis van Gaal.

Shaw's injury record has badly limited his opportunities for club and country, and includes several long-term absences.

In 2015 and 2016, the left-back missed more than 60 matches for United and England after suffering a double leg fracture in a Champions League loss against PSV in Eindhoven.

United's post-Alex Ferguson era hasn't been as successful as the decades that came before it but Shaw has been heavily involved as the club have added a Carabao Cup and the Europa League to their extensive trophy collection.