When one startled senior Manchester United player saw Bastian Schweinsteiger in the Under 21 dressing room a few weeks ago, he asked the German: ‘What the f*** are you doing in there?’
It is a question that this fallen World Cup hero must be asking himself every day. An eight-time Bundesliga winner, Schweinsteiger no longer has morning chats with Wayne Rooney and David de Gea but instead finds himself in the company of United youth-teamers.
On Thursday, July 28, Schweinsteiger arrived at United’s Carrington training complex. There had been suggestions inside the club that his future was in doubt but what followed still came as a shock.
Manager Jose Mourinho told the German his United career was over, that he should tell his agent to find a new club and that he would no longer train with the first team.
Schweinsteiger was informed he could train with the kids and make use of the training ground to stay in shape in readiness for a move.
It has been a humbling fall from grace for a player of such standing. His view was perhaps best summed up by a tweet from his brother Tobi, who simply wrote: ‘No respect.’
Since that day, Schweinsteiger has followed a largely personalised fitness regime and become an increasingly isolated figure at Carrington.
Thankfully, he has not yet been subjected to the kind of treatment that Victor Valdes suffered under former manager Louis van Gaal. Valdes was given an individual training schedule designed to ensure he did not see his team-mates.
Mourinho’s treatment of Schweinsteiger has been more humane but the German is, understandably, no longer enjoying life in Manchester.
His wife, tennis player Ana Ivanovic, has been at the Olympics during the past fortnight so home life is quiet and he is spending little time with his team-mates.
Some more senior colleagues have sympathy. A couple, such as Jesse Lingard, still seek him out for advice. Others, however, have been a little disappointed in him. They hoped Schweinsteiger would set a better example rather than resign himself to his fate.
It is a brutal ending to Schweinsteiger’s time at Old Trafford. One source in Germany this week admitted that the player’s ego has been bruised, saying the German always had a particular liking for English football.
Schweinsteiger had arrived at United intending to make an impact. He and Ivanovic, who married in Venice last month, hoped to put down roots in the north-west.
However, as time wore on, Schweinsteiger offered less and less to United. He has been deemed a major disappointment — on and off the field — but this should not have been a surprise.
Alarm bells should have rung when Bayern let him go for only £6.6million and there were raised eyebrows in Premier League boardrooms when United gave Schweinsteiger a three-year deal last summer. Manchester City executives were bewildered. Pep Guardiola, his coach at Bayern, had said that Schweinsteiger was never in good condition during his last three years in Munich.
This has been a galling lesson for United. Schweinsteiger’s signing was symbolic in that it signalled a break from the club’s traditional transfer market approach under Sir Alex Ferguson.
United simply do not invest in players over the age of 27, though there have been exceptions. Of the 30 outfield players signed since 2010, only three have been over 27.
Ferguson signed Robin van Persie at the age of 29 when he considered his arrival imperative. Mourinho has made a similar decision on Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But Schweinsteiger started only 13 League games and it is difficult to recall highlights from his first and, most likely, only season in English football.
His last start for the club came against Sheffield United in the FA Cup in January and as he struggled with injuries, his attitude began to be questioned in the dressing room. Senior players felt he was granted excessive leeway by Van Gaal and felt he was spending too much time in Germany.
Schweinsteiger, for his part, was never entirely comfortable with Van Gaal’s brand of football.
When Mourinho took over, the manager rapidly assessed that he would have room for only one experienced midfielder — the hugely popular Michael Carrick.
United’s problem now is that they have a 32-year-old World Cup winner, written off by both Guardiola and Mourinho, sitting on a £160,000-a-week contract that has two years to run. Should he wish to wait it out, United face the prospect of paying £16.6m to an unwanted player over the next two years. However, United insist there is interest and that the German will be gone by September.
Two Premier League clubs are monitoring the situation but a sizeable wage cut would be required. Paris Saint-Germain had a mild interest at the beginning of the summer while clubs in Spain and Turkey have made informal enquiries. America remains a possibility while Schalke have considered taking him home to Germany.
It has certainly been interesting to hear the indignation as Bayern icons line up to defend the player. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer says he ‘just can’t understand the decision’. Former coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has accused United of lacking respect while Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says he can hardly believe it.
Very different noises were heard in Bavaria this time last year, however. Sporting director Matthias Sammer, reflecting on the sale, said: ‘It’s the case that he’s been injured often recently.’
Bayern had no intention of matching United’s wage offer and it is telling that when Schweinsteiger went to the Bayern board to inform them that he wished to leave, they did not make a counter-offer to keep him.
For now, one of German football’s most decorated players must endure an undignified wait for a suitable offer. – Daily Mail