Shaw's career nearly ended aged 20, now he's key for England and loved by icon

The Three Lions left-back received adulation everywhere you looked on the Twittersphere and was even compared to Roberto Carlos, arguably football's greatest ever left-back. Some even dubbed him 'Shawberto Carlos'!

But among all the jokes an important conversation about how far Shaw has come continued - talkSPORT's Jamie O'Hara saying the Manchester United star is now one of the world's best left-backs.

"He had a great season at Manchester United and he looks fit," O'Hara said.

"When he came back from a terrible injury, it's not easy to come back from that, he put on a little bit of weight, Jose Mourinho didn't play him and wasn't really having him.

"This season he's been outstanding and he's stayed fit. But his performances, you've got to have a look at it and go 'at the moment and based on form he's one of the best left-backs in the world'."

The popular analysis is how much Shaw has improved over the past twelve months but there were bumps in his journey to where he is now long before that.

As a youngster he was quick to learn about the cut-throat nature of football having played at a development centre for Chelsea, who he supported as a child, but he wasn't offered a place at their famed academy.

Southampton snapped him up shortly after that and his time on the south coast was largely stress-free and the bigger clubs took notice as he matured. Saints eventually let him go in the summer of 2014 with Manchester United the lucky recipients of the talented teenager, then 18.

He became the world's most expensive teen in football as Man United shelled out £27million but he appeared to be worth every penny having represented England at the World Cup that summer.

But any hint of a magic summer came to an abrupt end when then-Red Devils coach Louis van Gaal made Shaw train on his own - the Dutchman citing the new signing not being fit enough to be with his new teammates.

He got his fitness back but injuries made it a difficult first season at Old Trafford. He made a sharp start to 2015/16 until one moment which nearly had huge ramifications for his career and life.

Shaw was rushed to hospital after breaking his leg during Man United's Champions League clash at PSV Eindhoven in September 2015. It kept him out for the best part of 11 months but the break could have spelled the end of his career at the age of just 20 - he later said that he could even have lost his leg.

There was a change in manager by the time he was ready to play football again as Jose Mourinho succeeded Van Gaal.

The difficulties Shaw had under the Portuguese are well documented but it's lazy to automatically categorise Mourinho as the villain in this episode.

talkSPORT's Simon Jordan explained in December: "There will be a school of thought that his treatment of Luke Shaw was very harsh, but I think Luke Shaw's career is back on the rails in part for the tough love and harsh medicine that Jose Mourinho meted out to him."

Meanwhile, Shaw's Man United and England teammate, Harry Maguire, has his own theory about why Shaw has come on leaps and bounds.

Maguire said in a press conference on Monday: "His ability has always been there, he has every attribute to be one of the best left-backs in the world.

"I'd say the main difference I've noticed in him is his mentality. In terms of pushing himself and the demands he makes of himself, to not just be a 6/10 each game, to not play comfortable, to push on and be himself and go and push himself to be the best player on the pitch. There's no reason why he can't do that."

Shaw received Man United's Players' Player and Fans Player of the Year awards in 2018/19, less than six months after Mourinho left the club.

All this earned him a recall to the England squad and he's been one of Gareth Southgate's stars at Euro 2020 having started all-but one of the Three Lions' matches.

More importantly, Shaw is affecting matches. Not only did he provide two assists against Ukraine but he also played a huge role in the historic win over Germany too.

He laid the ball on a plate for Raheem Sterling, and played a huge part in the second goal as he won the ball off Serge Gnabry and released Jack Grealish, who assisted Harry Kane's goal.

It could be argued Shaw was England's best player in the 4-0 win in Rome and it seems his club recognise his brilliant efforts with reports of a new contract offer circulating.

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Shaw isn't going to get carried away by his success, though, and has enjoyed laughing at the Carlos comparisons.

"It's just a bit of banter and you have to laugh it off to be honest," he told the BBC.

"People have been saying it a lot and he actually followed me and commented on my picture after the game, so I don't know if he watched the game but he's probably been taking notice of what people are saying on Twitter and following and commenting on my picture which was very nice to be honest."

He heads into arguably the biggest match of his career, England's semi-final against Denmark, in the form of his life. And for the first time in Shaw's career it looks like there's nothing that can hold him back.

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