Pep Guardiola said Luke Shaw was one of his favourite players while speaking about the FA Youth Cup final on May 15, 2026, after Manchester City beat Manchester United’s under-18 side 2-1 at the Joie Stadium.
The praise landed on the back of a season that, by the numbers, marked a clear return for Shaw. In the 2025/26 season he started all 36 of Manchester United’s Premier League games, making 36 appearances and playing 3,061 minutes. That run followed a two-season spell in which Shaw had played only 27 games.
Shaw’s recovery to consistent selection also carries a longer arc. More than 10 years ago he suffered a serious leg break against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League; the 2025/26 figures show a player who has delivered availability and minutes after years of interruption. His current contract is set to expire in 2027.
Guardiola used the post-match forum in part to single out individuals linked to Manchester United’s recent work and to acknowledge the club’s academy. "United always plays really good," he said. He added praise for figures in the stands that day: "Happy to see, in the stands, Omar [Berrada], Jason Wilcox – the most important part in this club for the last decade, both of them."
He went further in listing players and staff and where they had come through: "Jason, in the academy, did an incredible job. Omar, the right-hand of Ferran [Soriano], had been top and seeing top class players from United, Bruno [Fernandes], Luke Shaw – one of my favourite players – Mason Mount, the manager Michael Carrick." Guardiola closed by returning to the future of United’s youth set-up: "Yeah, good [the future of Man Utd]. They are good players. I think the academy for a long time is working really well."
The sequence of comments underlines two connected facts: Shaw’s restoration as a fixture in United’s first team across 2025/26, and external recognition from a rival manager whose club had just beaten United’s under-18s in a national final. Guardiola’s words placed Shaw among the senior names he singled out while also praising the academy structures that produced young talent.
Inside that endorsement is an obvious tension. The FA Youth Cup final ended 2-1 in Manchester City’s favour, yet Guardiola used the occasion to praise Manchester United’s staff and senior players. He explicitly named the academy figures he saw in the stands and described their work as "the most important part in this club for the last decade," language that elevated United’s development work even as City secured the trophy on the night.
For Shaw, the last season is the clearest measure of where he stands now. After two seasons with only 27 appearances combined, he posted 36 appearances and more than 3,000 minutes in 2025/26, shifting from a spell as a left centre-back in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system back to left-back under Michael Carrick before the season. Those numbers are the hard evidence Guardiola’s compliment rested on.
The immediate significance is practical. With Shaw’s deal running until 2027, Manchester United have a decision to make in the next 18 months about a player who has shown durability across a full campaign. That is the simplest, most consequential question left hanging by Guardiola’s praise and by Shaw’s 2025/26 workload.
Given the season just completed, the clearest conclusion is this: Luke Shaw has re-established himself as a first-team regular. The 36 starts and 3,061 minutes are not rhetorical; they are the basis on which Guardiola could call him "one of my favourite players." The next and unavoidable move now falls to Manchester United — whether they make Shaw a longer-term fixture beyond 2027.
