After a difficult start to the season, things are starting to look up at Celtic Park. Manager Ronny Delia seems to have settled on his best XI, and the club’s spot at the top of the league is once again intact after talk of a ‘worst season ever’ earlier this term.

Even though the mood is positive right now in the green and white half of Glasgow, January presents an interesting opportunity for the Hoops, who may be able to push on with a few wise additions and sales. With that in mind, here are three to be signed, and three to be axed…

In – John Guidetti

On loan from Manchester City, Guidetti has really impressed so far this season. The Swede has endured a few years of injury woes, but with regular playing time in Glasgow he’s already smashed ten goals in all competitions, which has led to transfer talk. The Bhoys are desperate to keep the 22-year-old, with a £3m January offer having been mooted even though the Scandinavian will be available for nothing in just about six months’ time. Although paying up when he can be snapped up for free soon makes little sense on the surface, getting a deal done quickly will keep other sides at bay and end the speculation, which will be a boost for Ronny Delia.

Out – Beram Kayal

By no means a regular anymore, the Israeli star’s time may indeed be up at Celtic Park. At 26, Kayal is in his peak, which may make selling more viable, with teams across Europe likely to be tempted by his experience and proven record. Maccabi Haifa are keen, but Celtic may have to reduce their valuation to get a deal done in January, with Kayal’s old club eyeing a free deal next summer.

In – Robbie Keane

The MLS’s MVP presents an interesting option for Celtic. Players have frequently move back across the Atlantic Ocean for short-term loans during the American off-season, which could allow the Hoops to land a quick boost for their title push. Keane is known to be a fan of Celtic and has already spent a brief period of time in Glasgow, which may even be enough to tempt him into a permanent deal after a successful stint with the LA Galaxy.

Out – Virgil van Dijk

Maybe not a transfer that would directly benefit Celtic, but selling Van Dijk now could make sense. The Dutchman’s value appears to be at an all-time high, and with Arsenal known to be desperate to land a centre-back to keep their season on track, a few extra zeros could be added to his price tag.

The Dutchman himself is likely to be keen a move to further his career, so this deal is one that may well go ahead.

In – Ikechi Anya

Having rose to prominence with the Scottish national side of late, Anya is certainly a player a host of Celtic fans would love to see in January. The Watford ace has been impressive this season, and there are rumours circulating that playing regular European football and battling for silverware could tempt him north of the border.

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Unfortunately for Celtic, some Premier League sides are interested in the silky winger. Having spent much of his younger years in Spain, Anya boasts a great level of technical ability and has proven that he has the resilience to play out of his comfort zone.

Out – Leigh Griffiths

Griffiths has been far from the success Celtic hoped for when they signed him from Wolves, and with his playing time having been limited this term, a January sale has been mooted. Hibs are rumoured to be keen on a deal next month for their former star, who would benefit from regular playing time.

Football as a sport has simply come on leaps and bounds since its initial conception and the birth of England’s competitive leagues. From traditional brown leather balls and long shorts that went down past the knee, to modern day rabona flicks and ‘selfie’ inspired goal celebrations, football has simply been there and done it all. It’s winding evolution has led the sport to become the most watched across the world, and with such obscene amounts of money casually drifting between different hands behind the scenes of the game, football is now bigger than it ever has been.

Whilst such investment has obviously propelled the beautiful game to a whole new height, the impact companies such as Sky have on the sport aren’t quite as cut and dry as they may seem.

Yes – the intense hype created by TV firms certainly adds to the excitement of it all, ‘Super Sundays’ remain a must watch for all die-hard fans of the sport, and many people wouldn’t know how to spend their transfer deadline day if it wasn’t for Sky Sports News freshly delivering all the ill-fated rumours, but most of the time, these bonuses only really deliver on paper.

On many occasions throughout the season, hotly anticipated Super Sunday games often don’t match the hype that they are billed with, transfer deadline days can turn out to be much ado about nothing (see this season’s January window as a clear example), and the whole trend of foreign investment created in this new footballing era has done very little for the progress of home-grown players and the England national team.

Within such a debate, do Sky deserve credit for lifting football to the lofty heights it enjoys today, or has the TV age seemingly killed the local glory of Premier League football, in order for big teams with big names to compete intercontinentally in the Champions League?

Whether you are in favour for TV companies such as Sky continuing their business or not, the money they have injected into the Premier League has been nothing short of staggering. Although the investment is not always directly produced by Rupert Murdoch’s famed company, the impact of widespread global television coverage has given English teams over to a wider audience, created a source of income that is not necessarily form related, and turned once small scale English clubs into worldwide brands and institutions.

The signing of players from the far east, predominantly for marketing reasons, has been just one of the many examples to arrive since the TV era in football, which has turned the game from a weekend hobby into a strict 24/7 business. Foreign faces and exotic stars simply go a long way in pushing the hype of the Premier League. They certainly create more interest in English clubs across the board, but as their arrivals must come at a sacrifice, many would be home-grown talents are finding their first team opportunities increasingly rare as a result of the trend.

Whilst every league in Europe flirts with foreign stars to a great extent, the Premier League in particular goes the furthest, with the Bundelsiga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 systems all seemingly less keen to oust their own nation’s respective stars in return for commercial friendly foreigners.

Such money may be beneficial for broadcasters, media and chairmen throughout the leagues, but it’s the supporters who seemingly have to pay the greatest price. England again lead the way in ripping off the fans at the bottom rung of the ladder, charging crazy amounts to see Premier League ‘stars’, and miserably falling behind its counterparts in the rest of Europe in terms of supporter’s rights.

That simply seems to be the way things have gone, however. Although many tweaks can be made in regards to how the game is run, both politically and publicly, today’s footballing world seems not only in favour of Sky’s contribution, but heavily reliant upon it as well. The company have become too powerful to simply knock down a peg or two.

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Seeing as the rise of internet streaming and the downloading of matches has also become increasingly popular in recent years, perhaps Sky’s days at the top are ultimately numbered and their influence will not last forever. Their impact remains powerful nonetheless, and by the time the famed company finally loosen their grip on Premier League football, hopefully it will still all be about the game itself, and not just about the money and false hype that has jumped on for the ride.

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If Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat at the hands of Arsenal last night highlighted one thing, and one thing only – it was that Angel Di Maria’s Old Trafford career is seemingly not going to plan. After making a name for himself as one of the most effective stars at the Bernabeu last season, the 27-year-old Argentinean simply hasn’t been able to transfer that form into the Premier League, in spite of the obvious hype that initially came with his high-profile signing.

Although he cost Louis van Gaal in the region of £59million this summer – easily becoming the most expensive Premier League player to date – the former Real Madrid man has only managed a grand total of four goals this season – looking nowhere near worthy of such a hefty pricetag in the process.

In light of such a troublesome time for the current Old Trafford man, just what has been the cause of Angel Di Maria’s fall from grace at Manchester United – and perhaps more subtly – is the tricky Argentine winger even the one to blame for such a disappointing turn of events?

First things first, the former Benfica and Real Madrid star has hardly done himself any favours with his recent sending off against the Gunners in the FA Cup. Diving and pulling on the ref’s shirt isn’t something you would expect from a player said to be worth close to £60m. In accordance with the other high profile spending carried out in Europe this summer, Manchester United could have theoretically bought themselves three Toni Kroos’ for the same amount they spent on Di Maria – with the German international signing at the Bernabeu for around £20m at the beginning of the season.

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The out-of-form Argentinean’s senseless behaviour has hardly endeared him any further to the Old Trafford faithful, who must surely now be getting tired of his inefficient lacklustre displays. The ex-La Liga star has simply failed to utilise his dangerous pace effectively enough this season, he has lacked the same commitment and passion that took him so far throughout the course of 2013/14 – and while the pricy wide-man has in-fact shown glimpses of his touted world class talent every now and then this season – his overall contribution for Louis van Gaal has simply not been good enough.

Having said all of that however, perhaps Manchester United’s newly appointed Dutch boss may actually be the man to blame throughout this whole debacle. Last season Angel Di Maria was deployed as an out-in-out winger. He seemingly thrived off playing with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, who would offer the wide-man the chance to get involved when they were playing at the top of Real Madrid’s attack. Nowadays though, van Gaal has chopped and changed Di Maria’s position, raising doubts as to whether or not he knows how best to deploy the United’s expensive summer acquisition.

The supposed winger has of course been played out on the flanks across this campaign, but sometimes Di Maria has seemingly been playing as a hybrid striker as well as a deeper lying midfielder. Such inconsistency has hardly paid off for the Red Devils this season – regardless of who is ultimately to blame.

With the marquee signing reportedly being the victim of an attempted break-in at his new place in Manchester, and his family subsequently feeling the strain of such a testing ordeal, it is believed that Angel Di Maria simply won’t be sticking around in the Premier League for much longer.

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As PSG are supposedly willing to give the former Madrid man another crack at the whip with another of Europe’s top clubs however, perhaps Manchester United’s once dream signing seems to have ultimately backfired – and backfired with real drama at that.

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Arsenal legend David Seaman has urged Theo Walcott to sign a new contract this summer, as reported by the Independent.

Walcott’s current deal expires next summer, and reports suggest the club are planning to open contract negotiations within the next two weeks as a they attempt to prevent him from leaving on the cheap.

But the winger has also been linked with a move away from the Emirates, with Liverpool touted as one of the clubs interested in tempting him away from the Emirates.

The England international has struggled to hold down a permanent first team spot over the last 12 months, though a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament did leave him sidelined for almost the whole of 2014.

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But Seaman thinks Walcott should stay at the club and continue to push for a return to his best, and he also believes the winger would realise how good the Gunners really are if he were to move on.

He said: “I think he should stay. When you leave Arsenal, you realise how good a club it is.

“I found out when I went to Manchester City, and other players have said it to me, players who have left Arsenal that have been there a long time. When you leave, you realise how good it is.

“He’s been injured, he’s had a really bad injury and it takes a while to come back.

“There’s no rush, he’s still got time on his side and with that pace, every defender hates someone who’s got that pace, because they can really embarrass defenders.”

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Walcott could be given a chance to impress in Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final against Reading at Wembley on Saturday.

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Football is a notoriously tricky game to predict. Players can look so promising before falling away, while other peak late and enjoy an ‘Indian summer’ during their careers. However, even though EURO 2016 is the next big tournament on the horizon for the Three Lions, the next addition of the competition in 2020 is intriguing. Just over five years down the line, some of England’s now promising stars may be fully-fledged Premier League forces, and whomever succeeds Roy Hodgson could build a formidable side…

Here’s how we think England – in a 4-3-3 set-up – could look for the European Championships…

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Joe Hart

Goalkeepers can go on for a while, and at 33, Hart will still be in his ‘peak’ years between the sticks. By 2020, the Manchester City ace may well have gained enough experience to iron out the errors that plague his game right now, while he may well have in excess of 100 caps, joining an elite band of players.

Calum Chambers

Just 20 now, Chambers will be at the height of his physical powers by the time 2020 rolls around. Although he’s played in midfield and at centre-back since joining Arsenal last year, his future is likely to be at right-back, where his pace, ability to support the attack and football intelligence are put to good use.

John Stones

Another 20-year-old defender, Everton’s Stones may well be one of England’s best options by 2020. Already a full international and a first-team player at Goodison Park, the centre-back could well have moved to a ‘top’ Premier League team in five years’ time and by plying his trade week in, week out at the highest level.

Gary Cahill

At 34, Cahill’s career could well be on a downward trajectory, but if he’s anything like Chelsea team-mate John Terry, he’ll still be doing a job in his mid 30s. A little experience goes a long way, and whoever is in charge of the Three Lions by the time the EUROs kick off may be tempted to keep him in the fold.

Luke Shaw

Whether or not Shaw will remain English football’s most expensive teenager is unknown, but he should be in his absolute prime in 2020. Due to be 24 by the time the tournament rolls around – his birthday will be in the middle of proceedings – Shaw could well be a regular at Manchester United and have tamed his attacking instincts to balance his game.

Jordan Henderson

Due be 29/30 when the competition kicks off, Henderson is possible captain material. Set to become the Reds’ skipper this summer, the midfielder has plenty of scope to improve and already looks to be a natural leader on the pitch due to his vocal nature and willingness to take responsibility.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Tipped to break into the Chelsea first-team soon, Loftus-Cheek looks to be the real deal. Powerful, athletic, good on the ball, composed, the midfielder has the potential to be very, very special. He’s due to be 24 when EURO 2020 comes around and as long as he stays focused the future looks bright.

Ross Barkley

At 26, Barkley could be England’s ‘new Gazza’. Blessed with the bombarding playing style of the former Three Lions great, the Everton ace currently lacks the positional awareness and consistency to be counted on now, but time could iron out the creases, and he certainly does look to have the technical ability to be a top star.

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Raheem Sterling

The darling of English football right now, Sterling is a player being tipped for the very top. Liverpool’s attacker has versatility, pace and experience in his repertoire already – he’s still just 20-years-old – and so long as he doesn’t hit a Michael Owen-esque decline, 2020 will be slap bang in the middle of his peak years.

Jack Grealish

A contentious one as the Republic of Ireland are battling for his international future, but Grealish remains eligible to pay for England at senior level. He’s represented his adopted nation at youth level, but being a Midlands born man, he could well sway towards the Three Lions, particularly with big tournament success more likely. Only 19, the winger is breaking through at Aston Villa, and looks to have the talent to be a promising wide player.

Harry Kane

30 goals in one season and a debut England goal, Kane’s future looks bright. By 2020 he’ll be 26 (soon to be 27) and as long as this season isn’t a ‘flash in the pan’ he could be the goal threat England have lacked for a while. Not the most gifted player technically, but the Spurs ace has plenty of desire and offers a physical presence along with willing running.

I’m all for a returning hero. Thierry Henry’s goal against Leeds in the FA Cup, Jose Mourinho’s successful season this time around at Chelsea, Shaun Wright-Phillips returning to Manchester City….

Slaven Bilic’s return to East London is somewhere between these categories. Will he be a hailed conquering hero or will his return be another piece of evidence for the old football adage ‘you should never go back’?

Bilic only spent one season at West Ham, so he’s hardly a club legend in the true sense of the word, but he’s certainly highly regarded. The West Ham board had trouble with the fans throughout Sam Allardyce’s tenure, so the appointment of a man thought of with some esteem by the fans is a shrewd move. Bilic will, surely, be given time to ease into life at his new club – just in time for the move to the Olympic Stadium. These really should be exciting times for the Hammers.

But is Bilic a good enough manager to take over at a club that should have lofty ambitions?

Bilic is best known in the managerial world as the manager of Croatia, of course. As Croatia manager he was known as a studious coach, who perused the games of his opponents and set his team up accordingly.

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Under his management, Croatia rose up the World rankings, knocked England out of Euro 2008 and became one of the most feared teams in Europe. Bilic has led his country to three major Championships and lots of praise. It’s not just Bilic’s success at Croatia that make him a good candidate for most jobs these days, it’s his experience too.

But simply having experience and even success doesn’t automatically make you a good fit. Bilic, however, has something that lots of other managers don’t. He’s one of the few managers in football who carry an aura around them. He exudes something, a kind of charisma.

Jose Mourinho has it, when he comes into the club, all eyes are on him and he has something to say. But you also know that he knows what he’s doing. The same goes for Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola. Even Jurgen Klopp has something about him. Klopp is probably a good comparison in this regard.

The ‘heavy-metal’ former Dortmund manager exudes the same kind of charisma as Bilic. Less ‘rock’ in his approach to football, his off-field activities give him an image. He’s well known for his interest in music, not only playing in his band Rawbau – it’s not as bad as you probably think – but also suggesting his players find music in order to help the relax.

That’s where the comparison with Klopp comes in of course, the beardy hipster-like manager with an interest in something cool. But Bilic also has a law degree. He’s a hipster with substance.

So there’s just something about Slaven Bilic that seems to make him a great fit for the Premier League. It’s the man himself rather than his style of football or his CV. After Croatia he never really achieved much in club management. But his temperament and his persona, his ability to garner media attention and his obvious intelligence make him someone who will surely thrive in a league that’s so much more ‘box-office’ than Turkey or Russia.

The eyes of the world will be on Bilic, not on his players, and that’s no bad thing. The players will get their space because Bilic will be the name on everyone’s lips.

Bilic may just be the right man at the right time for West ham. They are now established again in the Premier League after their relegation, and their fans were unhappy with the style of play under Allarcye. They have a point, West Ham’s tradition is one of attacking, easy-to-watch football, but even despite the low points of last season it’s something of a luxury to complain about the style of football your team plays. It shows that West Ham aren’t in a terrible position, they just need a manager who fits the club better than Big Sam.

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West Ham should be happy they’re in a good place for the future, and should be excited that, in Bilic, they have a manager who will have the team playing in the style that the fans want to see.

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Pundit and former Chelsea and Aston Villa striker Tony Cascarino has told The Times that Manchester United outcast Luke Shaw will “regret staying” at the club and he should look to leave as soon as possible.

The 22-year-old has struggled to win over Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho over the course of the last 18 months, and he found himself behind the likes of Ashley Young, Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind in the pecking order for the left-back and left wing-back roles earlier this season.

It looked as though things may be changing for Shaw when he made his first Premier League appearance and start of the campaign in the 1-0 win against Bournemouth at Old Trafford last Wednesday, putting in a man of the match performance.

However, the England international found himself back on the substitutes’ bench for the 2-1 win against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Sunday, with Young and then Marcos Rojo both featuring at left-back before him as he failed to come on.

In his column for The Times, Cascarino said: “He needs to leave Manchester United and restore his reputation as a top-flight left back. A footballer’s career is not long and he can’t waste his talent sitting on the bench — even if he will earn more money doing so

“Shaw will regret staying at United.”

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Manchester United have been heavily linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur’s Danny Rose over the last couple of months, and if that deal does materialise during the January transfer window then you would think that Shaw’s career at Old Trafford is done.

Tottenham Hotspur are keeping tabs on Benfica left-back Alex Grimaldo, according to Jornal de Noticias.

What’s the word?

The North London outfit could be busy in January if the transfer gossip pages are anything to go by.

Danny Rose has been heavily linked with a move away from Spurs, with The Mirror recently claiming that the club will sell the left-back to Manchester United if they receive £50m.

It is believed that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has begun hunting for replacements, and according to the latest reports, Grimaldo is on the Premier League outfit’s radar.

talkSPORT cites Jornal de Noticias as saying that Spurs have one eye on the 22-year-old, while Napoli and Barcelona are also interested in the player.

Grimaldo, who is valued at £25m, is understood to be keen on leaving Benfica when the transfer window reopens next month.

Is he the right replacement?

At this stage, it is difficult to say. Numerous players have been touted as potential targets for the Premier League club, including Luke Shaw and Fulham youngster Ryan Sessegnon.

Both of those players are viable options, but there are also some question marks surrounding them.

Shaw has struggled for game time at Manchester United, starting just one league game, while Sessegnon has not experienced top-level pressure.

The teenager’s talent is clear to see, but being a direct replacement for Rose could be too much of an ask.

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Grimaldo has made nine league appearances and created three assists in the process this season.

The left-back also featured four times in the Champions League, but the Spaniard brings a risk of his own considering that he has zero experience of English football.

On the surface, dismissing Mark Hughes was little more than the inevitable reaction to Stoke City winning just eight Premier League games since March, dropping into the relegation zone and suffering a shock defeat to League Two’s Coventry City in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

But scratch a little deeper and the end of the Welshman’s bid to transform the Potters into a fine-football institution of aesthetic ideals is a telling moment for the English game. With the gap between the best and the rest in the Premier League ever-increasing, and the gap between the rest and the relegated ever-decreasing, it may well be the last vanity project we see in the Premier League for some time.

That may come across as a pejorative description, but let’s not forget Hughes’ working brief after replacing Tony Pulis in summer 2013. The now-Middlesbrough boss had overseen five consecutive campaigns of Premier League survival, never finishing lower than 14th, but after freefall form during his final six months, the Coates family decided to pull the plug. They not only wanted to take Stoke City to a higher level in terms of league standing, but also style of football.

Hughes was allowed to bring in mercurial but exciting technical talents like Marko Arnuatovic, Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan and Ibrahim Afellay as he gradually moved the Potters away from the organised, defensive football that once made ‘a cold rainy night in Stoke’ a running Premier League cliché.

And on the most part, the ambitious experiment worked; Stoke indeed improved their final standings, Hughes overseeing three consecutive campaigns of finishing in ninth place, while employing a more eye-catching and offensive style of play.

But eventually, the vanity project ran out of steam and Hughes found himself reverting back to the tactics of his predecessor – 2016/17 saw Stoke average the least possession, produce the most long balls and score the fewest goals from open play of his four full seasons in charge, while the stylistic tribulations of the current campaign have been embodied by a 36-year-old Peter Crouch desperately flinging himself at long, aimless punts into the box.

Perhaps that’s the biggest criticism of Hughes; somewhere along the line, the mission objective was forgotten amid the need for results. But that’s not necessarily a consequence of Hughes betraying the ideals he was working towards – rather, the changing dynamics of a polarising Premier League.

The statistics are impossible to ignore and barring Leicester City’s anomalous, miraculous 2015/16 season which shook up the entire division like 20 pieces in a kaleidoscope, average possession, shots per game and goals per game for clubs finishing outside the top seven steadily decreased over the last five seasons, while the current term has seen six-year lows on all three fronts.

Likewise, the gap between seventh and eighth – 15 points – and between eighth and 17th was the highest and lowest respectively of the last five years during 2016/17.

Accordingly, the survival chances of every mid-table side have drastically changed over the last 18 months, partly because there’s more finance available to the clubs below them, and partly because the gap between the top seven and the rest has become so staggeringly severe.

The consequence has been an inevitable shift towards defensive, counter-attacking football and while more technical-minded teams like Stoke, Southampton, Swansea and Bournemouth have duly suffered, those at the opposite end of the spectrum have thrived.

Just take a look at the Premier League table; it’s no coincidence all four of those are in the bottom five, while Burnley, Leicester, Huddersfield and Brighton fill the gap between 12th and 7th. Even Everton have risen to a comfortable ninth place under the clean-sheet-comes-first leadership of Sam Allardyce.

That’s down to, quite simply, footballing nature; if you’re a possession-based team but don’t have the best players in the division, you’re destined to struggle in a counter-attacking league purely by design. And make no mistake, that’s exactly what the Premier League has become outside the top clubs – a transformation that recently obliged Jamie Carragher to dub it a ‘joke league’.

“It’s not just Newcastle but the Premier League in general, when they come up against the top six, certainly at home, it’s becoming embarrassing. The Premier League now is becoming a bit of a joke league, with the top teams being so far ahead of the ones at the bottom.

“For those clubs, its almost like they are accepting they are going to lose the game, as long as it is only one or two-nil. The Premier League has been built on every team having a go, that’s why everyone around the world wants to watch it.

“Will they keep watching if they keep seeing football like that?”

Inevitably, while clubs like Stoke and Southampton could focus on their own objectives like style of football a few years ago, they can’t afford that luxury anymore as they become engulfed in the perennial scrap for survival.

Stoke’s isn’t the only vanity project that’s failed either; Crystal Palace’s flirtation with Total Football under Frank de Boer lasted just eight games before being deemed too much of a gamble by Steve Parish, Southampton are now paying the price – at Leicester’s privilege – for seeking something more than Claude Puel’s cautious football and West Ham’s attempts to bring expansive play to their new London Stadium ended with the appointment of David Moyes – a manager who immediately switched to five in defence and one up front.

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Indeed, while results made Hughes’ position at Stoke untenable, the changing dynamics of the Premier League made his demise inevitable. Now, we’ve reached a point where no Premier League side is capable of achieving what Stoke envisaged five years ago; top-half security accompanied by technical, possession-based football. The closest any side have come this season is Watford, who now find themselves just five points clear of the drop zone after a booming start under Marco Silva.

As things stand, with the big clubs even clearer of the rest of the pack in terms of finance and quality of football and the gap between the rest of the division becoming smaller, it’s hard to imagine any club even thinking about replicating the evolution Hughes attempted at Stoke, let alone it succeeding.

Hughes’ Stoke tenure may seem like a mere footnote amid 25 years of Premier League history, but its derisory end tells much about how the English top flight is rapidly changing.

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has claimed that he has ‘never felt better’ following his recent run of matches for the Red Devils.

Shaw, 22, looked to be heading out of Old Trafford after struggling for football in the early weeks of the 2017-18 campaign.

The England international has worked his way back into the picture in recent weeks, however, to start United’s last three Premier League matches.

The defender, who is valued at £13.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, was still said to be dealing with the effects of the horrific double leg fracture that he suffered whilst playing in the Champions League towards the end of 2015.

However, Shaw has revealed that he is currently in a very good place both physically and mentally as he looks to nail-down the left-back spot for United.

Shaw told United Review:

“A bad injury like I had always stays with you a little bit afterwards but it’s in the past and I feel really good and really fit, and my leg feels perfect.

“Body-wise and fitness-wise I probably feel the best I’ve ever felt. Mentally I feel very strong as well and I’m enjoying my football, and it’s now about pushing on and helping the team.”

Ashley Young’s recent suspension and Antonio Valencia’s hamstring injury has seen Shaw enjoy a lot of football for United over the last few weeks.

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Meanwhile, the left-back is still said to have an outside chance of making the England squad for the 2018 World Cup.