Manchester United already have a player that has proven he can fill Ruben Amorim's problem position

When Ruben Amorim met the Manchester United players going through their recovery programmes on Tuesday, he would have taken a keen interest in at least a couple of players.

Leny Yoro is a generational talent at centre-back. Having turned 19 today, he could be part of Amorim's three-man defence for the long term. He is the same age as Kobbie Mainoo, a midfielder who has had a quiet start to the season but fits the profile the 39-year-old head coach likes.

Then there is Luke Shaw, one of the forgotten men of this United squad. Amorim put his arm around the neck of the 29-year-old and no doubt enquired how he was getting on. Shaw returned to training on the grass just before the international break and is now getting closer to a first appearance for the club in nine months.

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The fact he has played for England in that time is part of the reason why some United fans have given up on Shaw. He worked hard to recover in time to be part of their Euro 2024 squad, was fit enough to start the final against Spain, then returned to Carrington and promptly suffered another setback.

Shaw has now been unavailable for more than 260 United matches since he signed for the club in 2014, and according to Transfermarkt there have been 27 different reasons for absences in that period. They are damning stats for a player who has only played 275 games in a decade at the club.

For that reason, some United fans have given up on Shaw. His fitness record has started to get worse, and the optics of being fit for England but not for United aren't great, even if that is as frustrating for the player as it is for the supporters.

But the arrival of Amorim could, in theory, offer Shaw the chance of a fresh start. The former Sporting boss is expected to stick with his 3-4-3 system at Old Trafford, and as people have tried to work out his best team, they have often come unstuck at left wing-back.

It seems unlikely Diogo Dalot or Noussair Mazraoui will be played on their wrong flank in that role. Amad and Antony have been offered up as left-footed solutions and Alejandro Garnacho purely to get him in the team. But the obvious solution is Shaw.

His fitness record has led to people writing him off as the kind of athletic wing-back Amorim wants, but he's the player in the squad with the most experience in a wing-back role on either side. When Shaw gets fit and stays fit, he has the engine and the energy to do exactly what Amorim asks of his players.

It's forgotten now, but Shaw was in the Euro 2020 team of the tournament for his attacking qualities as much as his defensive ones, playing wing-back against Germany and Italy and proving a threat in the final third from there, as well as a more natural full-back role. In that tournament, Shaw made 17 carries into the final third, a tally bettered only by four players, all of them wingers or attacking midfielders.

During that tournament, Harry Maguire, Shaw's club and country teammate, said Shaw had "all the attributes to be one of the best left-backs in the world" and urged him to keep pushing himself. Injuries have halted that momentum.

But if United's medical staff can get him match fit and keep him there, he could be perfect for Amorim's system. Amid the desperate clamour for a left wing-back, everyone is forgetting the player who has already shone in that position.