Luke Shaw sadly reveals his nan died just before World Cup, rejected Gareth Southgate's compassionate leave offer

England star Luke Shaw has sadly revealed that his grandmother passed away on the eve of the World Cup.

Gareth Southgate was willing to let the Manchester United defender leave the camp after the tragic passing of his grandmother.

But Shaw, the only recognisable left-back in the England squad, turned down Southgate's touching gesture because he wanted to fulfil his dream of playing at a World Cup.

The 27-year-old missed the 2018 World Cup in Russia due to injury as he expressed the importance of this year's tournament.

Luke Shaw in action for England at the World Cup. Image: Alamy

"My nan sadly passed away, she had cancer for a long while and, unfortunately, she passed away just before the first game," he revealed.

"Gareth was really good with me, spoke to me and asked if everything was okay and did I need to have time away."

Shaw added: "So this World Cup means so much to me. I didn’t want to miss anything. I’ve had time to grieve. You could say it is part of my motivation - she was a really important part of my childhood, I spent a lot of time with her.

"She had cancer for a long while and had suffered a lot."

Shaw has started all three of England's games in Qatar and is set to keep his place in the starting XI in the last 16 stage.

The Three Lions topped Group B after beating Wales 3-0 on Tuesday - thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford (x2) and Phil Foden.

Southgate's side face Senegal on Saturday for a spot in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

On producing a performance that was good defensively and offensively against Wales, Southgate said: "I think we did, I thought in the first half we really controlled the game, but we didn’t create many clear-cut chances.

"So, we wanted a little bit more thrust and threat in the final third and to play forward a bit quicker.

"In the second half, once we got the two goals, we knew their spirit had probably gone, it’s been a tough tournament for them. I thought we kept our discipline and quality right to the end."

Topics: Football, Luke Shaw, England, Football World Cup, Gareth Southgate

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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