Luke Shaw is a young English soccer player who has risen through the lower tiers of English soccer to establish himself as a prominent defensive player in the top echelons of English football. Currently, on the roster of English Premier League heavyweight Manchester United, Shaw had previously been on the books of Southampton before he moved to United in 2014 in a multi-million pounds deal.
Shaw also played for the England national men’s soccer team. He played for the U-16, U-17, and U-21 teams before he earned a call-up to the senior team in 2014. He became the youngest player in the 2014 FIFA World Cup hosted in Brazil.
Luke Shaw’s Bio, Age
Although widely referred to as Luke Shaw, the Manchester United and England defender was born Luke Paul Hoare Shaw in Kingston upon the Thames in the United Kingdom on July 12, 1995. His family was an average one (middle-class) and consisted of his parents – Paul and Joanna Shaw – and his two siblings. His parents had three children of which he was the eldest among the lot. Luke Shaw has a younger brother, Ben, and a sister, Nicole Shaw.
Shaw’s passion for soccer started at a young age as he grew up in Surrey and watched Chelsea FC legend, Gianfranco Zola who made him fall in love with the London-based soccer club and he desired to play for the side someday. It led him to apply to the club, as he sought enrollment into their development program for young (soccer) talents. His application was approved and he was enrolled into the development center but he never quite made the final cut into the Chelsea academy.
Moreover, Shaw began his education at Rydens Enterprise School in Hersham but moved to Molesey Juniors so he could prepare himself and receive training that will enable him to survive in the big soccer academies. And then Southampton FC came calling in 2003.
Club Career
After Luke Shaw joined the Southampton Academy, his passion for the game saw him put in the required hard work and soon he established himself as a regular squad member of Southampton’s U-18 youth team and after eight years in the academy, he received a first-team nod in September 2011 when he was 16 years of age. The club that was in the Championship at that time received offers for the talented left-back from top Premier League teams such as Manchester City, Arsenal, etc but decided to keep the then 16-year-old.
The next season, in 2012, Southampton gained promotion to the Premier League, and Luke Shaw (alongside James Ward-Prowse, Calum Chambers, and Jack Stephens) agreed to his first professional soccer contract with the club. And when he made his first league start in a draw against Swansea in November that same year, he became the youngest Southampton player to start a league match for the side. He would finish that season with 28 appearances for the club.
He was given a five-year deal in 2013 which is when the left-back turned 18 and his performance that season earned him the left-back spot in the PFA Team of the Year for that season while on a personal level, he was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award which was later won by Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. By the summer transfer window, he was signing a four-year contract with Premier League giants, Manchester United after the latter paid above £30 million for his services. The deal made him the most expensive teenager in world soccer and he played with Premier League icons such as Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Robin Van Persie, to mention a few.
Luke Shaw was caught by Héctor Moreno’s sliding tackle in a UEFA Champions League group game against PSV Eindhoven in September 2015 and suffered a horrific season-ending injury. He would play his next competitive match the next season in the FA Community Shield victory against surprise league champions Leicester City in August 2016. It was also against the same opponents in the 2018-19 EPL season opener that Shaw scored his first senior Manchester United goal.
National Team Career
Lule Shaw has represented his national team – England – across the youth cadres beginning from the U-16 which he debuted in a match in 2011 against Slovenia. He also lined up for the U-17 national team and his debut was against Italy. He was called up in 2013 by the then-England U-21 team coach, Stuart Pearce to join the side and took part in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Shaw would receive his senior team call-up the following year and would also be part of the 23-man England team that made it to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. And with his involvement in England’s last group match against Costa Rica, Shaw set a record for being the youngest player in that World Cup Mundial.
Salary and Net Worth
The former Southampton left-back is currently contracted to Manchester United and earns a weekly wage of £70,000 totaling his annual salary to be a little over £3.5 million. His net worth has been estimated to be 44.5 million according to the net worth website TheRichest.com and some other sites. His earnings are primarily from his soccer career and also from his endorsement deals with some popular sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, etc.
In 2016, Shaw put up his mansion in Cheshire which was worth over £2.6 million for sale. He is also a lover of luxury rides and owns a pretty small collection which has an Audi, a Range, a Chevrolet, among others in it.
Is Luke Shaw Gay or Does He Have A Girlfriend?
Sometime in 2015, rumors began to swirl that Luke Shaw was a gay footballer and that he was among the two soccer players in the English Premier League (EPL) who were going to come out as gay. The England left-back, however, responded to the rumors by shutting it down, saying ‘It’s not me so everyone can shut up now.’
Although the reason why he was targeted by trolls in that context is still unfathomable because he has always been in relationships with the opposite sex. His first known relationship was with Shelby Billingham and when they broke off the relationship, he started dated Anouska Santos. The couple is not married yet and even though there are no precise details about their affair, they seem happy together and we can only hope that the wedding bells will soon ring.
Other Facts – Height, Weight
Luke Shaw weighs 75 kg (170 lbs) and is 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall 1.85 m tall.
He was born on July 12th which incidentally is the same day some other celebrities were also born. They are celebs such as American actor and comedian, Bill Cosby; Colombian soccer star, James Rodriguez; WWE superstar, Brock Lesnar; CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, and so on.
His younger brother, Ben Shaw had a spat with Jose Mourinho (who is his older brother, Luke Shaw’s coach at Manchester United) for leaving his big brother out of the 18-man team for the clash against Chelsea in 2016 when the former was fully fit. United, however, lost that match to Chelsea 4–0.
Luke Shaw’s choice for the most dreaded opponent is quite alarming. having played against the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Luis Suarez, Eden Hazard, Willian, Mohammed Salah, he says the opponent he dreads to come against is Nigeria and Chelsea’s winger, Victor Moses.
