Shaw extends United stay

Luke Shaw, who yesterday signed a new five-year contract, admitted the prospect of such a deal at Manchester United may have seemed “impossible” until recently following a chequered spell with the club..

The left-back’s contract was due to expire next summer and it seemed he was on the brink of exiting Old Trafford only a few months ago after yet more public criticism from manager Jose Mourinho.

Shaw, though, has been a regularundertheportuguese this season and has decided to commit his long-term future to the club he joined from Southampton for a fee thought to be £30million in June 2014.

He said on the club’s official app: “I’m very proud and happy. It’s been an odd four years for me.

“There have been ups and downs. From signing today now it’s all about looking forward and to how much I can help the team and become a success again.

“If you look at my situation in the last year and a bit, you’d have thought this could have been impossible.

“But I worked hard, I wanted to be here and I wanted to make sure my future was here to help this club.”

Injuries, form and fitness issues as well as a tumultuous relationship with Mourinho have punctuated Shaw’s time in the northwest.

He has made just 75 appearances in total, 50 of them in the Premier League, during his near four-and-ahalf-year stay.