Having reestablished an element of stability to his career after being eviscerated in the media by his own manager, things seem to be looking up for Luke Shaw at Manchester United.
Two assists in as many games - the second a rare start at Sunderland - have silenced much of the furore surrounding the England left-back's United future after José Mourinho basically labelled him brain-dead just over a week ago.
Ahead of the Manchester derby in two weeks' time, however, former Man City star Gary Owen has absolutely roasted the 21-year-old live on Manchester radio.
Speaking about Shaw's supposed fitness issues on XS Manchester, the former Maine Road fans' favourite compared Shaw to one Gary Barlow during a difficult spell in the latter's pop music career (specifically around 2002, we gather).
What do you make of these comments from former City player Gary Owen?
Is Luke Shaw a fat @GaryBarlow.... pic.twitter.com/vOgUoCjwRz— XS Manchester (@XSManchester) April 11, 2017
While it might strike as a highly obscure reference, it may stemmed from the fact that Take That's Barlow - a Liverpool fan, incidentally - had been speaking about his own weight issues just yesterday morning. He told the Daily Mail:
My greatest fear is going back to where I was in 2002, when I didn’t have a record deal and I was very fat.
One can only hope Shaw can learn from the error of Barlow's ways.
