Romelu Lukaku believes Luke Shaw has been Manchester United’s best player so far in 2018/19.
The Belgian forward has tipped his formerly unfancied teammate to claim the club’s Player of the Season award at the end of the campaign, insisting he has repeatedly been their top performer.
Shaw, still only 23, failed to hit top form in his first few seasons at Old Trafford after signing for £30million in 2014.
As a result, he was left out of England’s World Cup squad in the summer, but has since bounced back in impressive fashion.
When asked about Shaw, Lukaku told SunSport: “He’s our Player of the Season. For us, from the start of the season until now he’s been the most consistent.
“The whole summer we were in touch, when I was in Russia. We have mutual friends, I used to get videos of him working out and stuff, and I knew that this year would be his year.
“That’s what I told him as well, at the end of the season last year, that he has the potential to be the England left-back for many, many years, and for Manchester United the same. It’s about being that guy.”
Former United boss Jose Mourinho – who was sacked in December – was famously critical of Luke Shaw during his time at the helm.
However, Lukaku doesn’t believe this affected the youngster: “People who don’t know Luke don’t know he’s mentally really tough.
“He’s one of them who always shows it in training and stuff like that.
“It’s a side of him not a lot of people talk about, but it has to be known that mentally he’s a really strong guy.”