Manchester United transfer news: Bastian Schweinsteiger for sale as Jose Mourinho tells nine players to leave

Schweinsteiger has failed to impress since his £7m transfer from Bayern Munich a year ago and will slip down the pecking order further once Paul Pogba joins

Jack de Menezes
Friday 29 July 2016 08:23 BST
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Bastian Schweinsteiger has been told he can leave Manchester United
Bastian Schweinsteiger has been told he can leave Manchester United

Bastian Schweinsteiger has been told to find himself a new club after Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho ruthlessly culled nine players from his squad, the most high-profile of which being the 2014 World Cup winner.

Just one year after he was signed from Bayern Munich in a relatively cheap £7m deal – albeit on wages of £150,000-a-week – Schweinsteiger has been axed from Mourinho’s squad, which he has wasted little time about stamping his own mark on. With deals already completed for Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, United are poised to complete the world record signing of Paul Pogba after a deal was reached with Juventus that will cost the Premier League side £112m.

Pogba’s arrival, should he successfully complete a medical in Los Angeles scheduled for Friday, spells disaster for Schweinsteiger’s stay at Old Trafford, and Mourinho has preempted any future dispute with the Germany international by informing him he is no longer needed at United. Having already fallen behind Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin, Pogba’s expected arrival will bump the 31-year-old down to fifth choice under Mourinho, and that’s without considering captain Wayne Rooney as a midfielder given he finished the 2015/16 season in the holding role.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's first Manchester United training session (Video credit: MUTV).mp4

Schweinsteiger was limited to just 13 Premier League starts last season, with his availability severely limited by a serious knee injury that kept him out of most of the second half of the season beyond a four-match return in March.

Mourinho is looking for a more dynamic squad than what his predecessor, Louis van Gaal, built during his two-year tenure, and Schweinsteiger’s lack of pace and power simply doesn’t fit Mourinho’s requirement for his central midfielders.

Interest in Schweinsteiger has already been show from France, where French league champions Paris Saint-Germain have kept a close eye on Schweinsteiger. The Ligue 1 heavyweights would be able to meet Schweinsteiger’s wage demands without issue, although he could face a similar issue in finding playing time given that recently appointed PSG manager Unai Emery has Marco Veratti, Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta and Grzegorz Krychowiak available in central midfield.

Along with Bastian Schweinsteiger, eight other players have been told they leave United by Mourinho, according to The Times, with a number of academy products among them. The decision once again places Mourinho’s ability to develop young players in question, just weeks after he produced a document that listed 55 names of academy players he had given debuts to – a somewhat controversial list once it was picked apart.

Among those told they can leave is the Belgium international Adnan Januzaj, who had been billed as the next big thing at United when he broke into the side under David Moyes. Despite being the one shining light in that disastrous 2013/14 season that saw United finish seventh and Moyes sacked, Januzaj failed to impress Van Gaal, and saw a loan spell with Borussia Dortmund last season cut short after head coach Thomas Tuchel took a similar view.

Adnan Januzaj could join Sunderland on loan to be reunited with David Moyes (Getty)

Januzaj could yet leave on loan again though, with new Sunderland manager Moyes interest in bringing him in on a short-term deal.

Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair, two defenders who featured in the first team under Van Gaal, are also included in expected departures, and both have been informed that the club will consider permanent deals.

Andreas Pereira could yet have a future with United under Mourinho

Midfielder Andreas Pereira has been told to find himself a loan deal, although he could yet have a future at Old Trafford as Mourinho is known to be a fan of the midfielder having taken him to China for their pre-season tour.

The same cannot be said for striker Will Keane and James Wilson after failing to impress Mourinho in pre-season, although defenders Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Cameron Borthwick Jackson are only expected to leave the club in loan deals.

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