Luke Shaw
Luke Shaw (centre) is back in training as he attempts another United comeback
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's flurry of media activity a couple of weeks ago would have certainly caught the attention of the Manchester United dressing room. It is unusual for the owner of a football club to talk on the record in quite so much detail about what his players earn and whether they are value for money.
Ratcliffe suggested some players were "overpaid" and "not good enough" and then went on to detail the players who weren't available to Ruben Amorim but still sit near the top of the tree when it comes to wages.
“If you look at the top eight players in terms of salaries in Manchester United, 50 per cent of those are not available to Ruben,” Ratcliffe told The Times and The Telegraph. “And if you had the same at Manchester City or Liverpool, it would be a very different case for them.”
The 72-year-old named Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount as the four players in that category who haven't been available to Amorim. Rashford was ostracised by the head coach and is now on loan at Aston Villa, while Sancho is on loan at Chelsea.
Shaw and Mount will feel the heat a little more. Mount has had an awful run of injuries since signing from Chelsea for £55million, but he is clearly an Amorim favourite, and if he can stay fit, he will have a role to play.
Shaw will feel he has a point to prove, however, having again returned to training on Friday. It is one of many attempted returns for the 29-year-old, who hasn't started a game for his club in 13 months and has managed just three substitute appearances.
United are keen to take things slower with Shaw's latest comeback attempt, but the player will now be aware that Ratcliffe is taking salaries seriously at Old Trafford. If a player is among the highest earners at the club but can't stay fit and available, that is not going to go down well.
In terms of the transfer fee, United have had good value for Shaw. Signed for £30million in 2014, he has had spells where he has looked like one of the best left-backs in the world, but a record of 278 appearances in what is very nearly 11 full seasons at the club isn't good enough.
Plenty has been written about Shaw's injury record, and internally, there is no case of the finger being pointed at the defender, who is doing what he can to get himself fit. But at the executive level, there will be frustration that since he signed a four-year contract in April 2023, he has had long periods where he hasn't been able to play.
That deal came at a point when Shaw was at his peak. He had been the left-back in the team of the tournament at the European Championship in 2021 and was excelling in that position as a left-sided centre-back under Erik ten Hag. He played 47 games in 2022/23, suffering just one injury issue that kept him out for a couple of weeks in April.
But in the last two seasons, he has managed to play just 18 of United's 98 games, and the most lucrative contract he has signed at the club has coincided with his most frustrating run in terms of fitness. There have been at least seven separate injury issues since the start of 2023/24.
Now Shaw is deep into his latest return when it has been made clear that Ratcliffe is paying close attention to what people earn and whether they provide value for money. The players aren't immune to that approach.
Shaw's contract does at least protect him for now, and after the two years he has had there is little to no chance of a club gambling on his fitness record and trying to sign him this summer. And with Lisandro Martinez out for the rest of the season, there is an opportunity to stake a claim for that left-sided centre-back role.
It's unlikely Shaw gets in ahead of Martinez long-term, but if he can prove himself a valuable back-up and a squad option in that role and at wing-back, then he might start to provide some return on that pay rise he enjoyed two years ago. Ratcliffe will be watching intently.