Manchester United injury news: Louis van Gaal gives surprising update on Luke Shaw rehabilitation

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted surprise at Luke Shaw's injury progress after the defender started walking with braces just one month after he suffered a double leg break during the Red Devils' champions League clash against PSV Eindhoven. The former Southampton defender has been ruled out for six months by the manager after undergoing two bouts of surgery.

The 22-year-old defender, who had a difficult debut season at Old Trafford, had been the 20-time English champions' best player until the injury wrecked his 2015/16 campaign. Shaw had established himself as Van Gaal's first choice left-back and was on the way to nailing his place down in the England team as well. The young defender, however, will have to start from square one following the injury, but has handed everyone at the club a boost by returning to begin his rehabilitation ahead of schedule.

The former Bayern Munich manager claims that it is 'unbelievable' to see the defender at the club's Carrington training complex every day, but has called for patience when it comes to his actual return to training with the first team. The manager believes that the defender has a long road ahead in his recovery process, and believes that his participation with England at the European Championships in France next year is '50-50' due to the possibility of injury setbacks delaying his recovery.

"He is already here every day, walking with a brace and starting his rehabilitation. It is unbelievable. But he has a long way to go. At the moment, the progress is steep, but at the end it will be flat and that is difficult to maintain your mentality. But now he is fantastic," Van Gaal said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

"You cannot say that now he can go. Like Roy Hodgson says 50-50 because it is possible, but it is dependent on the rehabilitation. Maybe there are complications, you never know, that happens a lot so we have to wait and see," the Dutch manager added.