Manchester United: Lewis Hall is Ideal Replacement for Shaw
Phil Bardsley has seen enough Manchester United seasons buckle under the weight of injuries to know a fault line when he spots one. For him, it runs straight through left-back.
Luke Shaw has impressed in pre-season, he admits, but the former United defender is blunt about what comes next once the real games start and the calendar tightens.
“They need at least one more midfielder, someone who is more defensively-minded, and another left-back,” Bardsley said, laying out what he believes is non-negotiable business before the window shuts.
Shaw is at the heart of it.
“Luke Shaw has looked sharp in pre-season but with his injury record you always worry. I don’t think you can always rely on him for a full season, especially when United are back in the Champions League, because of the amount of games they’ll have to play.”
That Champions League return is the key detail. League, Europe, domestic cups – it’s the kind of schedule that exposes any weakness in depth. Bardsley doesn’t think United can walk into that storm with just hope and a fragile fitness record at left-back.
So he has a solution ready: Lewis Hall.
“Lewis Hall from Newcastle United would be the perfect fit,” he insisted. The challenge, as he sees it, is not identifying the player, but prising him out of St James’ Park. “It’s just a question of getting him out of Newcastle United this summer when they’ve already sold so many players and lost Eddie Howe. He’s a Premier League proven player though and a great age. I think the way he plays suits Manchester United to a tee.”
Hall’s profile ticks the boxes Bardsley keeps coming back to: proven at this level, young enough to grow, comfortable at left-back but versatile enough to give Michael Carrick options. In a squad that has often felt skewed, he sees Hall as a clean, simple fit.
And when the conversation turns to alternatives, Bardsley doesn’t hesitate.
Between Hall and Myles Lewis-Skelly, a Premier League winner and Champions League final starter, he still goes for the Newcastle man without blinking.
“I prefer Lewis Hall to Myles Lewis-Skelly when you look at what Manchester United need this summer,” Bardsley said. “Hall is better suited to playing left-back. I think if you look at Lewis-Skelly, he’s a much better player when you play him in midfield, and I don’t think United need another young player going into the middle of the park. They need a proven defensive midfielder who’s got that experience to come in and own that position.”
Lewis-Skelly’s talent isn’t in question. Bardsley goes out of his way to underline that.
“Listen, he’s a quality player. There’s no doubt about it. He won the Premier League last season and started in a Champions League final in midfield. But for me, if I had to pick between the two of them, it’s Lewis Hall every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
The message is clear: United’s midfield needs an experienced defensive anchor, not another promising youngster. At left-back, they need a specialist, not a converted midfielder. Hall, in his eyes, answers one of those problems directly. Lewis-Skelly, for all his pedigree, does not.
The market, though, rarely bends to logic alone.
Newcastle United have recently made it clear they do not intend to sell their left-back this summer. Arsenal, for their part, are in no rush to part with one of their most highly rated prospects. Both clubs are digging in.
If United cannot tempt either side into a deal, the search will move on. Fulham’s Antonee Robinson has already been linked with a move to Old Trafford, a reminder that the recruitment team are keeping other doors open.
Bardsley, though, has nailed his colours to one name. The question now is whether United can find a way to match that conviction in a transfer market that rarely gives them an easy route to the players they so obviously need.
