The German World Cup winner is precisely the type of signing United need to avoid in the future if they are going to recover their place at the top of the English game

Bastian Schweinsteiger made mugs of Manchester United and the sooner he clears off the better. It might have been easier to feel a pang of sympathy for the treatment of Schweinsteiger had he not been draining United of somewhere north of £150,000 per week for little more than a stretch, a game of five-a-side and a massage every morning for the best part of two years.
Schweinsteiger is now on his way to Chicago Fire in MLS – a clear indictaor that his days as a top player are over. Indeed, many saw it that way in the summer of 2015 when Louis van Gaal sanctioned the mystifying £6.5m purchase from Bayern Munich in the first place. Schweinsteiger had played around 60 per cent of Bayern’s matches in his last season at the club – the lowest total he managed in any season since turning professional. On a football level he might well have had something to offer but he was proven unreliable.

The coach there – Pep Guardiola – had long since realised that Schweinsteiger was of little use to a serious football team and discarded him with minimum fuss. Plenty of that famous Bayern loudmouth chorus have since decried United’s treatment of Schweinsteiger but they weren’t exactly offering him his place back in the squad. They were too clever for that. They said good riddance a long time ago and Schweinsteiger was someone else’s problem now.
United – traditionally – have been on a par with clubs like Bayern Munich and to accept their cast off on such an astronomically high wage was folly in the extreme. His catalogue of injuries – mostly ankle and knee – plagued him since before the World Cup which ultimately exhausted him beyond repair.
Schweinsteiger treated United less like a place of work and more like a holiday camp in which he could pick and choose his own activities. Sources at United say the club grew exasperated with Schweinsteiger during the second half of last season for flying back to Germany while injured instead of sticking around the club that paid his wages. Now he can’t get a game you can hardly keep him away from Old Trafford. There is barely a game he misses although you’d do well to catch sight of him on a matchday in the players’ tribune.
The poor-me act he has been cultivating all season – selfies in the stands at Old Trafford, wishing fans a good morning on Instagram – is self-serving and designed to make a target of Jose Mourinho for treating him harshly. He was justifiably exiled by the new United manager in the summer – who had a clear-headed plan for what he wanted in midfield. It was one which didn’t allow space for a sated, over-paid, under-committed, injury-prone Schweinsteiger no matter the pedigree of his career to date.
He barely kicked a ball for United in the first half of 2016 – missing match after match with knee injuries – before recovering in time for the competition that seemed to be his priority all along – the European Championship with Germany. United fans must have wondered had Schweinsteiger been replaced in Joachim Low’s squad by a body double when they saw him sprinting for a last-minute goal against Ukraine in their opening game at the finals in France. It was a slap in the face to the employers who paid him the best part of £8m during a season they were crying out for his experience and leadership.

What makes it all the more galling is that Schweinsteiger – a self-proclaimed United fan since childhood – had humiliated them once before. Back in 2010 – when he was playing as well as any midfielder in Europe – United were confident that they could nick him from Bayern. A United delegation flew out to complete what was supposed to be a £17m deal but were left stunned when Schweinsteiger appeared on the pitch ahead of a Bundesliga match against St Pauli to sign a new contract and declare his love for Bayern. United were played like a fiddle.
That embarrassment, the £6.5m transfer fee, the wages he’s barely earned mean anyone who’s sad about Schweinsteiger not finding his place in the team or being exiled needs their head examined. Schweinsteiger is exactly the kind of player Manchester United need to avoid if they stand any chance of recovering their perch.

 He has been offered a three-year $16.5m deal by the Fire and was spotted out for dinner with coach Veljko Paunovic in Cheshire a couple of weeks ago. He will move to the worst team in MLS but if the Chicago coach expects this 32-year-old to lift the one-time MLS Cup winners off the floor then he’s got another thing coming.

So before you get misty-eyed at the thought of the German World Cup winner being bundled out the back door and treated harshly, remember that Schweinsteiger did nothing for Manchester United other than take them for a very expensive ride.