Bastian Schweinsteiger restored as a club asset in Manchester United's latest set of accounts

The former Germany international was literally 'wrote off' as a club asset in accounts published last September

Bastian Schweinsteiger's Old Trafford career seemed to be over earlier this season (Getty)

Bastian Schweinsteiger has officially returned to the fold at Manchester United after the midfielder was restored as an asset in the club’s latest accounts.

The former Germany international was demoted to training with the Under-23s and not considered to be part of the first-team squad by Jose Mourinho at the start of the season.

The club subsequently wrote Schweinsteiger off in financial results published last September, listing an exceptional cost of £6.7million “related to a registrations’ impairment charge regarding a reduction in the carrying value of a player no longer considered to be a member of the first team playing squad.”

No longer considered as a club asset, let alone a first-team squad member, Schweinsteiger’s Old Trafford career was thought to be over.

However, the former Bayern Munich midfielder was named in Mourinho’s matchday squad for November’s EFL Cup quarter-final against West Ham United and appeared as an 86th-minute substitute.

Schweinsteiger has since made two further appearances, in the 4-0 FA Cup wins over Reading and Wigan Athletic, scoring United’s fourth goal in the latter tie.

In the latest set of results, Schweinsteiger’s return is listed as an exceptional credit of £4.8million, “relating to a reversal of a registrations’ impairment charge for a player now considered to be re-established as a member of the first team playing squad.”

Elsewhere in the results, United’s debt was found to have risen by 27.1 per cent to £409.3million, an increase blamed pound’s relative weakness to the dollar in the post-Brexit economy.

“The increase in net debt is due to the strengthening dollar, with the USD/GBP exchange rate moving from 1.4747 on 31 December 2015, to 1.2293 on 31 December 2016, resulting in an £88m increase in gross debt,” a club statement said.

Despite the increase in arrears, United remain on course to post a record total revenue of £540m for the current financial year.

Although commercial revenues only rose by 1.1 per cent in the last quarter, broadcast income increased sharply by 40.8 per cent to £52.5m, courtesy of the Premier League's latest bumper television deal. Matchday revenues, meanwhile, rose by 27 per cent due to more fixtures at Old Trafford than the same period last year.

Operating profit for Q2 was up 15 per cent to £37.6m, while net operating profit increased 23 per cent to £69m.

“The robustness of our business model continues to be reflected in our strong quarterly financial results and we remain on track to deliver record revenues for the year,” Ed Woodward, the club’s executive vice-chairman, said.