Shinji Kagawa claims lack of playing time at Manchester United is damaging his fitness

Manchester United outcast Shinji Kagawa has pleaded with David Moyes to give him more playing time for Manchester United, according to the Daily Mirror.

Rumours continue to link the Red Devils with creative midfielders from all over Europe, but Kagawa has said that he can be the man to propel United back to the top of the league.

Speaking after the international break, the former Dortmund player who moved to Old Trafford for £16 million says the lack of playing time under Moyes is affecting his fitness.

“Personally, I felt strongly after these two matches that I need to play more and, as a team, there are many things we need to do,” Kagawa told reporters in Japan.

“So we all need to go back to our European or J-League clubs and take what we learned in these two matches and work to fix those problems.

“There’s a matter of fitness, and there’s also that atmosphere of playing for my country.

“It’s different from the atmosphere at United, but you still get a good feel for being on the pitch when you play regularly.

“Maybe it’s because I’m not used to being on the pitch of late, but I didn’t feel like I was able to enter these two games properly. During tough times like these I have to improve myself.”

The Japanese playmaker has good reason to believe he should be playing more often as United have struggled to create chances this term and languish in mid-table after seven games.

Despite consistently scoring positive numbers in the performance score category last season, he only featured sporadically, and his chances have been even harder to come by this time around.

The Old Trafford faithful deem it scandalous that Moyes doesn’t start the Japan international and they aren’t the only ones. Dortmund fans have started a campaign to bring the former Asian Footballer of the Year back to the Bundesliga; a move that may well happen if he can’t win the love of Moyes before next summer.

When playing in Germany, Kagawa had an imperious record as a productive attacking midfielder, contributing 21 goals in just 49 goals for Dortmund.

There is no real threat of Kagawa losing his place in the national team before the World Cup next summer, but if Japan are to improve on their exit at the last-16 stage in South Africa they must have their star player at the peak of his fitness.

Shinji Kagawa has come on on top in every single duel he has been involved in this season. He has only featured in one match though, United’s disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to West Brom.