Man City star Nico O’Reilly backed to nail down England role for ‘the next decade’ – what does that mean for Utd defender Luke Shaw?

Gray went on to say of long-serving United defender Shaw, who must also fend off competition from the likes of Tino Livramento and Djed Spence – men capable of filling full-back positions on either flank – in order to earn a seat on England’s World Cup-bound plane: “My personal point of view would be to take Luke Shaw just because of his experience and his know-how and he’s been involved in major competitions before.

“I think the worry is going to be with Thomas Tuchel – and this goes for quite a few players – is he’s got to rely on players staying fit for the remainder of the tournament and I think that’s one of the worries he’s going to have with people like Luke Shaw.

“Whereas if Nico O’Reilly goes, you don’t worry about that much, he doesn’t really pick up very many injuries, he’s young, his muscles are not going to break down in a tournament like that. But even if everybody’s fit, from what I’ve seen this season from every single player who’s played in that left-back position, Nico O’Reilly would be my number one, hands down.”