Manchester United have confirmed Luke Shaw has had surgery on the broken leg he sustained in the Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven.

Shaw suffered a double fracture of his right leg in the 2-1 defeat at the Philips Stadion when Héctor Moreno challenged him in the PSV area.

The 20-year-old required oxygen before being taken to hospital in Eindhoven. He underwent an operation on Tuesday night on what medical staff described as a clean break, with his recovery time estimated at six months.

United, whose executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward visited Shaw in hospital on Wednesday morning, said in a statement: “Luke underwent surgery for his injury and will remain in hospital in Eindhoven to continue his early recovery. Manchester United are grateful for the excellent care he is receiving and would like to thank everyone who has sent messages of support. A further update will be provided in due course.”

Speaking after the game, Louis van Gaal said: “It is awful – a boy who comes to Manchester United at 18, has it very difficult and then plays fantastically and then this happens. When he was in the dressing room he had an oxygen mask on. He was crying.”

Moreno said of the incident: “I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember, I just feel really bad because I was involved in the accident. I feel really sorry. I think it was not a foul, I think I played the ball, but in this kind of situation I don’t care if it was a foul, I feel bad for him, for his family.”

A tweet on Shaw’s account read: “Thank you everyone for your messages, words can’t describe how gutted I am, my road to recovery starts now, I will come back stronger.”