Erik ten Hag has admitted that Luke Shaw was unable to play at 100 per cent during his reign as Manchester United manager due to the long-term effects of his leg break in 2015. Shaw's injury woes have continued under another boss, with Ruben Amorim yet to have the 29-year-old at his disposal since replacing Ten Hag.
He made Lecce left-wing-back Patrick Dorgu his first major signing in January, completing an initial £25million deal for the Lecce starlet.
The 20-year-old's arrival was a telling indicator of United's confidence in Shaw to sustain a run of fitness as he prepares to enter his thirties this summer.
Ten Hag suffered damaging problems at left-back, going without a natural option for most of his tenure due to injuries to Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.
He made Malacia his first signing in a £15m move from Feyenoord after being left impressed by the Dutchman when he was in charge of Ajax.
However, he last featured for Ten Hag in May 2023 before suffering a serious knee injury in pre-season that required two surgeries to fix.
Malacia returned to action with Amorim in the dugout, starting the 3-2 win against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League, but was hooked at half-time after struggling to get up to speed.
The 25-year-old didn't survive beyond half-time in four of his five starts under Amorim, leaving many supporters questioning whether he was among the Ten Hag signings who weren't at the level required.
But Ten Hag has defended the signing of Malacia, insisting he coped well before his injury, having featured more prominently than expected due to Shaw's injury nightmare.
"Tyrell was a young and very promising footballer at the time," the former United manager told Voetbal International.
"He had made a big impression at Feyenoord as an up-and-coming left back and had already made it to the Dutch national team.
"With me, he was given the time to get used to the high level of United and the Premier League. He did well. Tyrell knew that he had Luke Shaw, one of the best left-backs in the world, in front of him.
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