Manchester United’s veteran midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger on Wednesday insisted that he is ready to fight for a place at the football club after being sidelined by new coach Jose Mourinho.
The former Germany captain has been frozen out of the first-team since Mourinho’s arrival in the summer, and has been training with the reserves while the club attempts to find a potential suitor for the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner.
With eight Bundesliga titles and a Champions League win to his name, he left Bayern Munich for United last summer and made 13 English Premier League (EPL) starts under Louis van Gaal during an injury-hit 2015/16 season.
But he insists that if United do want to offload him, he will not move to another European club. “MUFC will be my last club in Europe. I respect other clubs. But Manchester United was the only one which could make me leave Bayern Munich,” Schweinsteiger wrote on Twitter.
“I will be ready, if the team needs me. This is all I can say about my current situation. I want to thank the fans for the amazing support over the last few weeks,” the 32-year-old added.
Schweinsteiger has two years left of the three-year contract he signed with United last summer.
New manager Mourinho has already decided the German has no future at United, with Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin all ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.
Schweinsteiger is one of a handful of senior stars Mourinho is prepared to jettison, with Marcos Rojo also unwanted.
–IANS
