Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has hit out at one of the club’s players ahead of the new Premier League season.
United kick off the new campaign at Old Trafford on Friday August 16 against Fulham after a summer of upheaval under Erik ten Hag.
New signings Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui only joined the club this week but could be in line to make their debuts with Ten Hag navigating a number of injury problems before the season gets underway.
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£52m summer buy Leny Yoro will miss three months of action and it was confirmed this week that defender Luke Shaw would be out until the next international break with a calf problem.
Shaw’s injury in particular stings for United supporters who haven’t watched the former Southampton man feature in a competitive game for the club since February despite travelling to the Euro 2024 as part of the England squad.
The 29-year-old featured in the quarter-final, semi-final and final of the competition and has come under fire from Schmeichel for not prioritising his club duties.
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“The one thing I have to say that really gets me and annoys me as a Manchester United fan is that Luke Shaw did not play since February for United and yet he still went to the Euros,” Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He wasn’t playing in the group phase and I think he came in for the quarter-final, played some of the semi and then started the final.
“Now he’s injured again. He is so important because he has experience, he is a top-class left-back.
“He is a Manchester United player, we pay him. He should be focusing on and prioritising Manchester United and not his country.”
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Schmeichel added: “If you’re fit and you’ve been playing and all that and go to the Euros, no problem. But he wasn’t.
“I was so hoping Luke Shaw to be fit for this season because he is so important. I was hoping we could come out with the back of the team the strongest that it could be, to stop conceding goals – easy goals – because that was, for me, a really big problem last season.”
Ahead of the game against the Cottagers, Ten Hag admitted his team is not ready to begin the Premier League season.
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"The team is not ready but the league starts," said Ten Hag.
"There are more managers who definitely have this problem but we have to make a start.
"We can't hide from it. We can't run away from it. We have to deal with it."
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Luke Shaw, Premier League, Transfers
Marcus Banks