Shaw is fulfilling Mata's 2019 message as he sent challenge to Man Utd teammate

Juan Mata told Luke Shaw he could be the Premier League's best left-back in 2019 and the Manchester United star is finally living up to the billing.

The Spaniard released a book and sent one to each of his his Red Devils team-mates with a message on the inside cover.

He said to Shaw: "To my friend Luke, you can be the best left-back in the Premier League. Believe it!"

Mata moved to Old Trafford six months before a young Shaw arrived from Southampton in a £30m deal.

The Englishman was blighted by injuries which hampered his development and he copped heavy criticism from former boss Jose Mourinho.

However under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Shaw has been able to fulfil his potential and was recently named United's Players' Player of the Year.

Last term the 25-year-old commanded the left-back spot and made 47 appearances in all competitions.

Shaw was able to regularly influence games from wide areas and scored his only goal of the season in the Manchester derby win at the Etihad.

Such performances have also seen him recalled to the England fold and he is playing his role at Euro 2020 with the Three Lions.

Back in March Shaw credited Solskjaer with playing a huge role in his renaissance citing his man management as a major factor.

"His man-management is second to none," Shaw told Sky Sports. "The way he conducts himself in terms of how he speaks to the players, it gets the best out of them. You can see that.

"He deals with situations perfectly in terms of what is needed, especially at a big club like Manchester United.

"He takes the pressure off the lads and takes it all himself. Sometimes it is not fair because we are the ones on the pitch and we need to take our fair share too.

"For me, especially, from what I had before Ole came in, it is a total difference. It has pushed me to a new level."

Shaw's reference to what he had previously was the treatment he received from Mourinho.

The Special One publicly criticised his player and failed to see the response he desired.

That criticism has continued even after Mourinho was sacked at Old Trafford and only last week the Portuguese manager was pointing out flaws in his game.

Shaw addressed Mourinho's comments and said: "I don't really understand it, to be honest. I don't know why he is still going on and wanting to point at me. I don't feel like the set-pieces were as bad as he was saying.

"His voice is obviously very big. He likes to talk a lot about me, as everyone has seen recently. But his voice is his own. He can say what he wants."