Bastian Schweinsteiger has opened up on the treatment he received at Manchester United, which eventually led to his exit, with Gary Neville admitting it was "illegal" to do so.
The German moved to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich, reuniting with Louis van Gaal, who he'd worked with at the German outfit. He only had a year alongside the Dutch coach before Jose Mourinho was hired as his replacement.
Schweinsteiger had enjoyed a trophy-laden career with Bayern and had also landed huge success in the international arena, winning the World Cup in 2014. His quality and experience was a huge asset but Mourinho quickly decided to shun the midfielder.
A run to the last four of the Euros in 2016 meant Schweinsteiger was late to report for pre-season training and, a day after returning, he was informed that he'd be training with the U16s and wasn't even allowed to venture into the same facilities as the first team.
He told the Overlap : "It was 2016 and I was with the German national team, we went far in the competition [Euros] reaching the semi-finals, so I stepped in a little later [at Manchester United] and the team were in the US for a pre-season tour. When I arrived on the first day, I trained with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and thought it was great, a player who has the vision and is amazing to play with.
“The next day, on my birthday, when I walked into Carrington [training ground], John Murtough was there and said that I wasn’t allowed to walk into the dressing room, the coach had said so. No warning, nothing."
Schweinsteiger requested permission to speak to Mourinho to find out why he was being snubbed. The Special One claimed he "didn’t see the player happy". The German has suffered from injury woes, but underlined his love for the club, despite being cast aside.
Neville quizzed him on the reaction of the players. He replied: "I didn’t see them, sometimes I’d pass by a few or get a message. They said that they didn’t understand the decision, but I didn’t see them, I had to train in the morning or after their session to not see them.”
The ex-United right-back said he was "stunned and embarrassed" as he explained: "That’s illegal [treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger]. I was the PFA Union Representative, and you’re not allowed to do that, you can’t dismiss someone like that, it’s constructive dismissal in some ways."
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.