Bastian Schweinsteiger was brought into Manchester United with a lot of grandeur by ex-manager Louis van Gaal. The 31-year-old didn’t have the greater season at Bayern Munich under Pep Guardiola in the season before his move and many expected the German to do a stellar job at his new club, especially under the tutelage of Van Gaal.
Although age was not on the side of the German midfielder, there should have been enough experience and ability shown by the former Munich man to hold a place in the United midfield but poor performances and injuries kept him out of the side for large chunks of the season.
In fact, this was one reason why he was sold by Bayern in the first place or let go by the Bavarian giants, whatever you claim it to be. The 31-year-old wasn’t as dynamic at his ex-club as he used to be and he was replaced by far superior midfielders such as Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal.
These days are filled with uncertainty in the heads of many Manchester United players as to what their future is under new manager Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese is known to make some tough decisions about transfers and the German could be another one who could feel the wrath of the 53-year-old.
A future for Bastian at United?
Bastian is not the same player he was, say 3-4 years ago, the dynamism has gone in his game and for Jose Mourinho, the most important aspect of his team would be the midfield. Jose has had players such as Michael Essien and Thiago Motta and more incredible players under him, who not only did their job in midfield but were leaders and incredible in their performance levels.
Those players, just like any other player in the team, would give more than 100% and Mourinho would be wanting all players at United to put that much effort in at least. Bastian, speaking to Sky Sports did have this to say before the signing of Mourinho by Manchester United.
“The enthusiasm for football in Manchester is great and, if Mourinho does take over at United, I think all of the players want to train under him so it’s going to be quite a special season.”
The 31-year-old did make 29 appearances for Manchester United but only 13 stars in the league campaign. It is being said that Jose Mourinho is a fan of Bastian but it would be unlikely that the German is given a lot of chances in the first team, he could be a great squad player though and that could be his future at the club next season under Mourinho.
The Portuguese does have a history of getting the best out of players who aren’t doing all that well and under a new manager and with fresh ideas cropping up, the German could have a big role to play for Manchester United next season.