Luke Shaw will be lucky to play again this season after suffering a horrific double leg fracture during Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven.
The seriousness of Shaw’s injury was made immediately clear by both the England defender’s screams in agony and the looks on the players’ faces surrounding him, with medics rushing on to his aid. Replays showed the sickening leg break that was caused accidentally by PSV defender Hector Moreno, who himself looked sickened by the after-effects.
The injury is a huge blow to Shaw’s progression as one of the most talented young defenders in England, and after a troublesome debut season at Old Trafford the 20-year-old had enjoyed a strong start to new campaign having made the left-back role his own.
PSV 2 Manchester United 1 player ratings
Shaw was treated on the pitch for a lengthy amount of time before being stretchered to the changing room, where United manager Louis van Gaal revealed he was seen crying. Shaw would later take to Twitter to express his thanks for the messages of support that were flooding in, but it was immediately clear that his injury was a serious one.
Read more:
Shaw: 'Words can't describe how gutted I am'
Shaw suffers horrific leg injury in Champions League defeat
Van Gaal: 'It is awful, he was crying in the dressing room'
United soon confirmed that Shaw had suffered a double leg fracture that normally results in between six and nine months to recover for, though that time can vary hugely on the extent of the damage and how clean the break was.
Luke Shaw suffered a broken leg in the defeat to PSV
Shaw is given oxygen after suffering a broken leg
Shaw is carried off the pitch
Here’s what Shaw could potentially miss, as well as recovery times of players that have suffered double leg breaks.
Dates:
9-12 October – Euro 2016 qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania
13-17 November – International friendlies with Spain (if Spain qualify for Euro 2016) and France
8 December – Manchester United’s final Champions League group game v Wolfsburg
26 March 2016 – International friendly v Germany
13 April – Henrik Larsson’s recovery time (212 days)
19 April – Bryan Oviedo’s recovery time (218 days)
15 May – Manchester United vs Bournemouth – final day of the Premier League
21 May – FA Cup final
28 May – Champions League final
4 June – Aaron Ramsey’s recovery time (252 days)
10 June – Euro 2016 begins with England already qualified
7 July – Eduardo’s recovery time (296 days)
10 July – Euro 2016 final
