Manchester United: Ruben Amorim offers encouraging new Luke Shaw update before first game

Ruben Amorim has delivered an encouraging new update on Luke Shaw ahead of his first game in charge of Manchester United.

A fresh era officially begins for the Red Devils on Sunday, when Erik ten Hag’s successor takes the reins for the first time against struggling Ipswich at Portman Road as the Premier League resumes following the final international break of 2024.

United are still dealing with plenty of injury concerns ahead of Amorim’s eagerly-awaited debut in the dugout in Suffolk, with Lisandro Martinez among their list of latest doubts after withdrawing from Argentina duty last week with a back problem.

Victor Lindelof also limped off for Sweden in the Nations League to add further to those defensive worries, while Harry Maguire has been sidelined since early October with a calf complaint.

However, summer signing Leny Yoro could be involved against Ipswich having been training at Carrington of late following a foot fracture suffered during pre-season that required surgery and has thus far prevented him from making his competitive United debut, while versatile Dutch international Tyrell Malacia recently played for the Under-21s for his first minutes in 18 months following an injury nightmare.

Kobbie Mainoo is another player to have trained under Amorim this week after missing the last seven matches across all competitions through injury, while the newly-appointed head coach also had a promising update on Shaw, who has seen his potential return pushed back multiple times already this season.

The left-back has not played for United at all since February after recovering from a serious hamstring injury to feature for England at Euro 2024 before then suffering a calf issue early on in pre-season and not been available since.

"We have to see; we have one more training," Amorim told MUTV when asked for a team news update shortly after his first press conference as United boss on Friday.

"But Luke [Shaw], for example, is feeling fine, but we have to build his fitness during games, so we have to be careful. I think he’s a very good player, so I will take care of him and I want these kinds of players that are important in our squad for a long period and not just for a game.

“We have some guys returning from injury, so we had some moments together, working in that indoor pitch [on] tactical work.

"We have to manage the load during this week with some players from national teams [as well], but we are ready to face Ipswich."