Luke Shaw finds himself in the same position as when a Man United player filmed him in training

It was nearly five years ago that a former member of staff at Manchester United received a video of Luke Shaw being outsprinted by the club's new fitness coach Charlie Owen.

The clip was filmed from a distance at the WACA in Perth, where United were based for ten days during their 2019 pre-season tour. The vantage point and angle suggested the footage was captured from the press room where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer held court on a couple of occasions.

Only next door there was a gym used by players deemed unfit to participate in outdoor training. In a camp where Solskjaer was determined to make United fitter than ever, Shaw, recovering from a minor injury, was lagging behind.

"How can you succeed with that mentality?" the former club employee scoffed.

Come the end of August, Shaw's race was run. He sank to the turf in the defeat to Crystal Palace and was sidelined with a hamstring injury for three months. Tomorrow marks three months since Shaw's last appearance for United after a season-ending injury. Another hamstring injury.

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When Shaw's season ended prematurely in 2016-17, Jose Mourinho did not wait for a scan. "I think Luke Shaw's must be a big injury because to leave the pitch after nine minutes I am expecting a very big injury." Shaw was on crutches for the Europa League final.

Mourinho had grown weary with Shaw's conditioning and questioned his robustness after he and Chris Smalling did not play through the pain barrier in the 3-1 win at Swansea in November 2016. The incumbent United manager Erik ten Hag last week said he would not "gamble" with a player's fitness. He already has with Shaw.