“That kid at left-back is amazing”
This was the reaction of Erik ten Hag when he first saw Tyrell Malacia playing for Feyenoord against his Ajax side in the Netherlands during a recent season.
Ten Hag turned to his assistant Michael Reiziger and said “Take note of him” before sitting back to admire the rest of his performance, as he surged forward with style, and also managed to keep Ajax’s Brazilian winger Antony relatively quiet.
There was speculation last summer that an impressed Ten Hag was interested in bringing Malacia to Ajax, but the deal never happened.
But Ten Hag continued to monitor the left-back’s development, and now wants to make Malacia one of his first signings at Manchester United.
Earlier this week United agreed a deal with Feyenoord to sign Malacia for a fee of around £12.9 million, and are currently negotiating contract details with the player, before his arrival is officially announced.
After a frustratingly slow start to the summer transfer window, this represented a positive step for United, and the only figure who will not be entirely enamoured by Malacia’s arrival is the current owner of the left-back position: Luke Shaw.
Twelve months ago Shaw appeared to be untouchable at Old Trafford after finally establishing himself as one of the best left-backs in the world.
The 2020-21 season had been the finest of his career as he emerged as the brilliant and consistent performer United thought they were buying all the way back in 2014 when they paid Southampton £27 million for him.
His form helped drive United to a runners-up finish in the Premier League and the final of the Europa League. He was solid in defence, and devastating going forward, which earned him a place in the PFA’s Premier League Team of the Season.
He celebrated his new status by starring for England at Euro 2020 last summer and memorably scoring in the final against Italy before ultimately losing on penalties.
Until that season Shaw had been a study in inconsistency; he had shown glimmers of brilliance, but then there were also too many bouts of poor form, and he also suffered with injuries, most notably when he broke his leg during the 2015-16 season.
He has only once played more than 30 Premier League games in a season, unsurprisingly in 2020-21, and over eight seasons at Old Trafford has been missing from the starting line-up too many times.
A year ago, it appeared he had put all of that behind him, but last season he slumped back to some of his old ways and endured another disappointing campaign.
Shaw lost much of the attacking zest he had previously shown, was in and out of the side, and was a part of a United defence who conceded a staggering 57 league goals, the most since the 1978-79 season.
The last time United signed another left-back was the summer of 2020 when they welcomed the arrival of the Brazilian Alex Telles, which immediately inspired Shaw to enjoy the best season of his career. Could history repeat itself?
Shaw has already played for four managers at Old Trafford, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Ralf Rangnick, and now has the challenge of impressing a fifth in Ten Hag.
Shaw is still relatively young, and only turns 27 in July, which means he could have the best years of his career ahead of him.
United have made it known that Shaw remains their first choice left-back, but they are also not investing in Malacia for him to sit quietly on the bench.
The challenge for Shaw is to rediscover his form of a year ago, or he could lose his place to the exciting new arrival.