Jose Mourinho has seen his Manchester United team turn a corner over the last couple of months. That turn around has been on the back of a veteran defensive midfielder and a veteran striker, largely. For all the exceptional young talent in the Manchester United squad, a lot of it has been under-utilised or simply ignored.

Anthony Martial has been called out by Jose Mourinho for having wasted chances, Marcus Rashford has regressed from superhuman to a human level of performance and Memphis Depay has been shipped out. Luke Shaw looks set to follow Depay out of Old Trafford, as Mourinho demonstrates his lack of desire to work with players who are yet to reach their peak. Whether it is a case of maturity or that he simply does not have the patience to tolerate the fluctuations in their form, Mourinho is not the man to take advantage of the gifted youngsters at the club.

Before the horrific injury that ruled him out of action for such a long period, Shaw was one of the world’s best young players. Signed by Manchester United and ready to start on a regular basis, Shaw was a wonderful addition. With the pace and stamina to overlap, the technical ability to produce in the final third and an improving defender, the ex-Southampton man was ready to step up to the mantle as Manchester United’s left-back.

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The injury has obviously changed his career course somewhat, but Shaw has been an outcast this season. Having played only 527 Premier League minutes so far this year, his career is not only stalling: it is crumbling.

Shaw is only 21. Considering the Premier League experience he already has and the time he has missed with injury, it is remarkable to think he could have the best part of 15 years left at the top of the game. Time is on his side, he may think he can afford to wait for his chance at Old Trafford, but his relationship with Mourinho does not look likely improve in the near-future.

Mourinho questioned Shaw’s desire to play for the club earlier this season and has voiced his own frustrations with the left-back’s persistent injuries. Whether he is having a ‘difficult period’ as Mourinho said or he is simply out of favour, it is hard to tell. His injury record is evidently an issue – he has been injured on five separate occasions this season alone – but the clear difficulties between himself and the manager are not going to disappear.

Mourinho has never been a manager who is sympathetic with injuries. He demands his players to run through walls for him, for the cause. He wants warriors in his squad. Whether Shaw has chosen not to play when he could have done on the odd occasion (which may well have been the right decision for the latter years of his career) is neither here nor there, but it does deliver a telling sign about his relationship with the man who currently holds all the keys to his career. Shaw would be foolish to risk his own fitness for the sake of playing a couple more matches this season, even if it does leave his manager ranting to the media and jeopardise his future at the club.

If Mourinho brings success back to Old Trafford, his management of their talented youngsters will be forgotten. Early signs with Martial and Depay are not good, though. Shaw’s career could quickly become defined by injuries, but the left-back seems unlikely to step forward under Mourinho at Manchester United. His manager naturally does not trust young players, making Shaw’s days at the club numbered.

Shaw needs to prove his match fitness at Manchester United, but his best chance of becoming the world’s best is to leave the club.

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