Bastian Schweinsteiger: Manchester United midfielder suffers serious knee injury on international duty

The 31-year-old midfielder sat out of the Germany national team's training session on Tuesday

Bastian Schweinsteiger in training with the Germany national team (Getty Images)

Bastian Schweinsteiger could miss the rest of the season after sustaining a partial tear to a medial ligament in his right knee.

The Manchester United midfielder, currently on international duty, sat out of training with Germany’s national team on Wednesday due to the problem.

Schweinsteiger visited team doctor Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt's practice in Munich to undergo an MRI scan, after which the injury was confirmed.

"Bastian Schweinsteiger has injured his medial collateral ligament, and is unavailable for both England and Italy,'' said Germany head coach Joachim Low in a press conference on Wednesday.

"It is the same injury that he suffered in England. It does not look very positive."

A statement on the German Football Association’s official website said the national team captain had suffered the injury at the end of a session on Tuesday.

“The training of the national team this morning in Berlin, the penultimate before the internationals against England on Saturday in Berlin and Italy on Tuesday in Munich, was missing Bastian Schweinsteiger of Manchester United, Mesut Ozil from Arsenal and Karim Bellarabi of Bayer Leverkusen,” it read.

“For further investigation, the captain [Schweinsteiger] will now undergo an MRI examination with national team physician Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt in Munich.

Schweinsteiger only just returned to action for United earlier this month after 13 games out, having suffered a knee problem in January's FA Cup third round win over Sheffield United.

The extent of the 31-year-old’s injury is yet to be confirmed but initial reports suggest that he may miss the rest of the season and the European Championships in France this summer.

Germany entertain England in an international friendly at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Saturday.