Luke Shaw has become a complete full-back - and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deserves more credit for his resurgence

It was early August 2019, on the eve of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first full season as Manchester United manager, and Luke Shaw, fresh from entertaining a VIP audience on the rooftop of the palatial Fullerton Bay Hotel in Singapore during the club’s pre-season tour, had just retreated indoors to the comfort of an air-conditioned room for an interview.

Shaw had been named United’s player of the season three months earlier but the interview was still in its infancy when the left-back, without any leading, made it clear he felt the campaign had been “embarrassing” to the point no one warranted such an award. United had finished sixth - 32 points behind the champions Manchester City - and trophyless, and Shaw believed the fans deserved an unvarnished version of the truth.

“From a personal point of view, it was a better season than I’d had for a while but I still think I can do much better,” he said. “I didn’t really feel like anyone deserved the player of the year award because of the season we had as a team. There is more to come from me and everyone needs to be better because last season was somewhere near embarrassing.”

Bruno Fernandes will probably win United’s player of the year award this season and no one is likely to argue that would not be deserved but pushing him all the way will be Shaw. Even Fernandes, for all his goals and assists, has had some fluctuations in form but Shaw has not just been the model of consistency, every few weeks he seems to take another jump forward, every few weeks his all-round game steps up another notch.

The modern full-back can often be thrilling bombing forward but less convincing defending his own goal, or adept defensively but short offensively, yet Shaw’s performance in Sunday’s 2-0 handsome victory over City was another reminder of how well he marries the two.

Five days after ransacking Wolverhampton Wanderers’ left side, Riyad Mahrez found himself routinely snuffed out by Shaw, to the point that you expected one of those GIFs to appear on social media of the United left-back emptying his pockets to find his phone, car keys and City’s Algeria winger in there.

But Shaw’s remit was and is so much broader and the sight of him taking Dean Henderson’s long throw on his chest and breezing past Joao Cancelo in one swift movement before surging up the field to score after exchanging passes with Marcus Rashford was the game’s most exhilarating moment.

The name of Cancelo is significant there. Pep Guardiola has won plenty of plaudits for his innovative use of City’s Portuguese full-back but he was left firmly in the shade by Shaw at the Etihad and it is important to recognise the role Solskjaer has played in the evolution of United’s own multi-talented defender, now comfortably one of his team’s biggest attacking threats. What would people be saying if Shaw had enjoyed this sort of resurgence under the City manager?

Shaw’s development has been one of Solskjaer’s greatest success stories and, while it would not have been possible without the player’s unwavering commitment to self-improvement, he has much to thank the Norwegian for.

There are people at United who felt Jose Mourinho’s treatment of Shaw bordered on bullying. Mourinho himself would probably call it tough love and, knowing the former United manager, take some credit for the player’s current ascent. Maybe there would be some truth in that, or perhaps he was just inhibiting Shaw all along.

Under Solskjaer, several things have happened. Crucially, Shaw is far fitter, and it shows. Secondly, he has been given every encouragement to drive forward with the ball, and he really does carry the ball with great power and balance when off on one of those thundering runs from the inside channel.

Thirdly, the improvement in the quality of his delivery, from set pieces and open play has been startling and a vital weapon in United’s arsenal. And lastly, but certainly not least, he has felt the love of a manager who has taken the time to get to know the player and person. Solskjaer’s man-management of the 25-year-old has been exemplary.

And, yes, Shaw is still only 25. It feels almost like a trick of the imagination, doesn’t it? But it points to a player entering his peak years now and that augurs well not only for United but England, too.

He has not played for his country for 2½ years but if he maintains this form he should be firmly in the mix for a starting place at the European Championship finals this summer. Only City’s John Stones, another player hoping to make his presence felt for England again, has a renaissance story to rival that of Shaw this term.

Going back to that 2018/19 season, four days before Shaw had picked up that player of the year award, United had drawn 1-1 at relegated Huddersfield Town in their penultimate game of the season. It was a dire performance and footage later circulated on social media of Shaw ambling around to the point of indifference and helped to explain why he was such a reticent recipient of the accolade that would follow.

But that Shaw has long gone. In its place is one of the best left-backs in Europe.