An old message from Juan Mata to Luke Shaw has resurfaced as the latter’s rise to prominence with England continues.
From 2014 up to the present day, Mata and Shaw have been teammates at Manchester United. In that time the pair have been through many highs and many lows in the quest to turn the Red Devils back into seasoned Premier League title contenders once again.
Mata has proved himself as an important senior member of the squad, whereas Luke Shaw has no doubt had a few setbacks along the way, most notably a career-threatening leg injury and a number of public criticisms from Jose Mourinho.
Now, though, at the age of 25, Shaw is starting to piece it all together both for club and country to the point where his performance against Germany was pinpointed as one of the primary reasons behind England’s Round of 16 win at Euro 2020.
As a celebration of that, an old inspirational message from Mata to Shaw has been doing the rounds on social media.
Juan Mata's message to Luke Shaw in 2019 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/H0yPRoK9G4
— utdreport (@utdreport) June 30, 2021
“To my friend Luke, you can be the best left back in the Premier League, believe it! Juan.” He wrote.
Some may disagree but at this moment in time it’s hard to argue against Shaw being one of, if not the best left back in Europe, let alone just the Premier League.
Mata has been there and done it all throughout his illustrious career and he can clearly spot talent from a mile away. Sure, their time together in Manchester may mean Mata is slightly biased, but the rest of the country isn’t.
England fans can all see what Shaw is about and they can all appreciate how much he’s bringing to the table. If he can keep this trajectory up, he still has plenty of time to grow into one of the best left backs of his generation – and we’re not so sure that’s an exaggeration.
Shaw will hope to play a featured role this Saturday night when England take on Ukraine in their Euro 2020 quarter-final.
Featured image credit: Getty
