Gary Neville said that Manchester United’s treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger was “illegal” after the former Germany player said that he had to train with the club’s under-16 team in the summer of 2016.
After coming to United from Bayern Munich on a cheap £6.8 million deal for three years, the 39-year-old played for two seasons at Old Trafford.
After manager Louis van Gaal was fired and replaced by Jose Mourinho, Schweinsteiger was not allowed to train with the first team when he got back from the European Championship in August 2016. This was because Mourinho was putting together a core group for the new season.
United were about to pay a world record £89 million for Paul Pogba. Mourinho told the club to extend Michael Carrick’s deal and told Marouane Fellaini he would not be sold. In midfield, United also had Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin.
Schweinsteiger hurt his knee in a close FA Cup third round win against Sheffield United on January 9. He only came on as a replacement four times in the 2015–16 season, but he went to Dubai, Miami, and Stuttgart to watch his partner, tennis player Ana Ivanovic.
Senior members of the United team didn’t like how often the German took trips, which Mourinho learned about as he was getting ready to replace Van Gaal. Schweinsteiger was kicked out of United’s first-team locker room. He trained with the club’s youth teams during the summer of 2016 before being sold to the Chicago Fire in March 2017.
Late in October, Schweinsteiger returned to training with the United team, and Mourinho openly said he felt bad about how he treated the World Cup hero.
During his last days at United, Schweinsteiger talked about how he thought he was the target of a cruel joke when he was told to train with the club’s under-16s team.
“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 United] and the team were in the US for a pre-season tour,” he said.
“The first day I got there, I trained with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who I thought was great. He has great vision and is fun to play with.”
“When I went into Carrington on my birthday the next day, John Murtough was there and told me that the coach had told him I wasn’t allowed to go into the locker room. Not a single warning. I’m not sure. That’s fine, I went to the youth changing room and trained with the under-16s. Someone could have told me or explained it to me in a normal way that first day of training.
“Yes, all the way out of the first team locker room, so I had to ask Murtough to bring me my boots and training gear.” When I asked him who I was training with, he said it was the under-16 team. I then went and trained with them.
“I asked him if I could talk to the manager in the afternoon. When I got back from training with the under-16s, I had a meeting with Jose Mourinho in the afternoon. I trained so badly because I didn’t know what was going on or if it was a joke.”
“He told me that he didn’t think I would be happy at United because I spent time in Germany with German doctors while I was recovering from my injury.” Of course, I went back to United, kept in touch with the doctors, and watched the games. When Louis van Gaal was coach, he told me to keep in touch with the doctors by going to United on the weekends because they needed me to be fit and there was an FA Cup final that I almost played in.
“That’s what we agreed to, and I stuck to it.” For me, it was only about getting fit and being able to play. I stuck to what Louis van Gaal told me to do, but the board had a different opinion.
“I was the only one who had to go to the youth dressing room.” After that, I worked out with a fitness teacher by myself for at least three months. I worked out before and after the first team. In fact, Jose never let me work with the first team. I think they just didn’t want me around.
That time, I was still very happy at United. I loved wearing the shirt, I loved it. I thought that maybe it was just a short time. I decided to work out now to stay in shape, and who knows, maybe one day they’ll change their minds. My dream was to always go back out into Old Trafford.
Later that season, Schweinsteiger forced his way back into Mourinho’s plans at Old Trafford, albeit for a short time. He played in League Cup, FA Cup, and Europa League games at the start of 2017 before signing with the MLS in March.
However, Neville was shocked by Schweinsteiger’s claims and said that, in his view, United could have been sued because he used to work for the Professional Footballers’ Association.
“That’s against the law,” Neville said. “I worked for the PFA Union, and that’s not allowed. You can’t fire someone that way; in a way, it’s constructive dismissal.”
“It feels like a few years have passed since you should have come see me.” After hearing what I’ve heard, I feel shocked and ashamed. I always think that players leave clubs and people fight, but there is a right way to do things and act.
Read Also: One Manchester United player often arrives at training two and half hours before rest of the squad