Ruben Amorim has warned Luke Shaw he will have a “fight” to keep his Manchester United place now Lisandro Martinez is back.
Martinez returned from a ten-month lay-off with an anterior cruciate ligament injury as a late substitute in United’s 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The World Cup winner replaced Shaw, who has started in all 13 of United’s Premier League games this season.
Left back Shaw, 30, has been injury-free since he returned from a hamstring strain in April and he has slotted in at left centre back in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system.
But Martinez is a specialist central defender and was a regular for Amorim until he sustained his knee injury on February 2.
“They have to fight,” Amorim stressed. “We talked about that as a group last year.
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“We need to win Europa League. You have 11 players because you have no idea who is playing one game per week.
“You are going to be upset because you are not going to play. It’s 11 players that can play and then the rest you have to fight. That is the situation.
“That is not a problem. That is a blessing. That is my job to choose.
“Licha is a guy that has a big character. I feel that he stops for a year and now he wants things really, really fast and you have to manage that to explain with that injury.
“We need to go step by step but he’s getting ready. He’s feeling really strong.
“He’s one more guy to help the team to play better, so I’m really happy with Licha at the moment.”
Shaw made his 300th appearance for United at Selhurst Park but is midway through his 12th season at the club.
United bought Shaw from Southampton in a £31million deal but he was accused of a lack of fitness by then-manager Louis van Gaal on his first pre-season tour.
Shaw has not appeared in 334 United matches during his 11-and-a-half years at the club but this is the longest spell he has gone without injury in three years.
United have a lighter workload this season without European football and Shaw’s reinvention at centre half means he does not have to run as much.
“The position is completely different,” Amorim said. “If you change the position. you know that the demands of that different position he is going to struggle.
“He adapts really well to that position because sometimes he’s playing with the ball like a full back.
“But he’s defending more deeply. He’s really smart. For me, I said already I think he’s a world-class player.
“Of course, he needs more continuity. Like he’s showing this season.
“We are playing just one game per week. That helps a lot. If he needs three days to recover he’s not needing it now. But if he needs it we can give him.
“So I think it’s everything combined. We are not taking special measures for him in this moment but we had to do it in the beginning.
“When he was starting to have more minutes.”
Despite his fine form, Shaw is yet to earn an England squad recall and he last played for the Three Lions in the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.
Left back is a problem position for England and Amorim is adamant Shaw can still play on the wing.
He added: “It’s different. You have to train there. Before you think to put a different player in that position you need to train there.
“Or he needs to do some minutes and then he needs to come off. Or return to a different position.
“But he’s ready to if we need him. Maybe we are going to need him in this system he can play there.”
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