After international retirement, does Schweinsteiger have a future at United?

Bastian Schweinsteiger recently announced his retirement from the German national team, but could his short career at Manchester United also be over?

A favourite of former United boss, Louis Van Gaal, Schweinsteiger was brought in last summer after a lucrative 14 year career at FC Bayern Munich for a fee of £6.5 million. The move also made him the first German to play for Manchester United’s first team.

After a first season in English football hindered by injuries, Schweinsteiger still found himself named to Germany’s EURO 2016 squad, and even managed to net himself a good goal off the substitute bench.

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However the tournament didn’t finish as well for him as it began. In Germany’s semi-final match against hosts France, Schweinsteiger gave away a sloppy handball in the box, and a penalty scored that shifted the flow of the game in France’s favour.

Germany never recovered, and despite being favourites for the tournament going in, left it in the semi-final. Late last week, Schweini announced the news of his international retirement on Twitter.

So where does this leave the former German captain at home in Manchester?

The announcement of Mourinho to the head coach role at United promised some shakeups, and Bastian appears to be one of the first casualties. He didn’t even feature in the 23-man squad against Galatasaray at the weekend, leading many to believe he’s already been informed of his fate at Manchester United.

Mourinho is famous for his small squads, and any player who doesn’t make the final cut by the start of the season is free to decide what they want to do with their future: continue training with the club’s reserves, or leave. As of today, Manchester Evening News reports that Schweinsteiger is training with the U23 team.

Whether the German will hang around to fight for a place, or try to battle his way back into the first team is still anybody’s guess, but it’s hard to imagine a player of his calibre happy to train with Manchester United’s reserves until he retires. United are yet to have a player leave the team yet this season, and Schweinsteiger seems like a likely candidate.

But the warning signs of Schweinsteiger’s demise have been there since Van Gaal signed him just a year ago. That Bayern were willing to let one of their longtime stars leave for such a low cost suggests they knew what Van Gaal either didn’t, or didn’t want to believe; Bastian couldn’t keep up with another season of World Class football.

His extensive period of last season spent on the physio’s table seems to confirm that his body couldn’t handle the more physical league. as he showed in games towards the beginning of the 2015/16 season, his body is no longer capable of keeping up with his brilliant brain. In the Premier League, this just won’t cut it — especially when United has such a large number of center midfielders, all vying for playtime.

Granted, Van Gaal failed to get the full potential out of most of his players, but Schweinsteiger seemed like an odd signing from the start. He’d been known as a leader for both club and country, but he was never going to replace Michael Carrick or Wayne Rooney for United — either for their midfield positions on the field, or the years of English league experience they bring to the squad. As for the trope of strong, aged leader, they had that covered too.

His international retirement certainly represents an explicit deceleration in his distinguished career, and the decision to go out on a relative high is befitting of such a decorated player. It may even be that Schweinsteiger can put more energy into his club football now his duties as an international captain are done. Paul Scholes retired from the English national team early, and went on to play another nine years of top tier football for United.

But I’m being sentimental. In all likelihood, Mourinho simply doesn’t believe Schweinsteiger is good enough to warrant a spot over someone else in his first team.

Sentimentality is part of what got United into the slump they are currently spending preseason preparing to break out of. Sentimentality lead to them trying to hire the next Ferguson in Moyes, and the club’s reluctance in admitting its mistake with Van Gaal. Thankfully, with signings such as Mourinho, Ibrahimovic, and possibly Paul Pogba on the way, United finally appear to be looking forwards once more.

I don’t believe Bastian is done as a professional footballer — anybody who can handle the rigour of a European championship after a season of injuries clearly has something left in the tank to give — but his days at the top of the game appear to be over. Over the past week, he’s been linked with a return to Germany for FC Schalke, who could really use some experience in their young midfield. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see him linked with an MLS club, looking to land a prize asset.

Schweinsteiger may have an unfortunate fall from grace ahead of him this season, whether he chooses to swallow his pride and try to reclaim a spot in the first team, or ply his trade somewhere less demanding. But Mourinho’s lack of hesitation in cutting a colossal (but underperforming) name from the squad should give United fans some assurance that the this team is going to be a tight, well oiled machine, with no room for dead weight being carried purely on legacy.