'He deserves it' - Ruben Amorim backs Manchester United unsung hero for return to national side

Ruben Amorim has backed Manchester United defender Luke Shaw with a return to the England squad ahead of the November international break. The 30-year-old defender has been an unsung hero of United's resurgent run under Amorim and has started every Premier League match for the club this season.

Shaw has done an excellent job filling in for the injured Lisandro Martinez on the left of United's back three but might not have much time left in the starting line up. The Argentine returned to full training this week and although he won't be risked against Nottingham Forest this weekend, he could be back in the United squad to face Tottenham Hotspur next week.

The form of Shaw means there is no guarantee Martinez will earn a return to the starting line up and his job could be made even harder if he earns a recall to the England squad next week.

Amorim backs Shaw for England return

England have already booked a place at next summer's World Cup in North America and head coach Thomas Tuchel could use the November international break as an opportunity to experiment with his team. The German coach has a preference for physical players in his squad and might be tempted to give Luke Shaw a chance in defence.

Shaw has not featured for England since the 2-1 defeat to Spain in the European Championship Final in July 2024, but will hope to be involved when they face Serbia on 13 November and Albania on 16 November.

Asked whether the United defender deserved an England recall, Ruben Amorim back him for one, but admitted he would not see it as much of a problem from a 'selfish' perspective if he missed out again.

"It's hard. It's hard here, it's hard in Portugal, I have the same questions about the players, it's really hard to choose the players," Amorim said at his latest pre-match press conference. "People point a finger at you if you are the national manager, if you choose this one or the other one. And England has a lot of good players, and you can choose two teams to win a World Cup. I know it's tough for you guys, it's harder than Portugal, but it's an opinion, it's the way you play, it's the way you see the opponents you have. In the next two games, it will change what kind of player you want to call up.

"So, I think he deserves it, but also a lot of players deserve to be back. For me, I want him to go to the national team, but I also want Luke Shaw to train with me, recover with me, and be prepared for my game, so I'm a little bit selfish on that, so if he's not going to the national team, for me it's fine, because I can control better what he's doing."

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