BYE-BYE BASTIAN – UNITED KEEN TO CUT THEIR LOSSES
MANCHESTER United would welcome any approach from Bastian Schweinsteiger to try and bring his time at the club to an early end. Schweinsteiger, who set up the late winner against Watford last year, has been sidelined by new manager Jose Mourinho, with little prospect of gaining any firstteam football in the two remaining years of his contract.
The German World Cup winner’s deal is structured so that his basic pay falls year-by-year with a greater emphasis on bonuses for first-team appearances.
That reduces his incentive to hang around with little chance of playing, though the club will let the midfielder make the first move in any attempt to reach a settlement that would let him leave.
Schweinsteiger, 32, is on an estimated £80 000-a-week (R1.5 million) basic salary this season and the club wrote off his £6.7 million valuation in the latest financial accounts, thereby effectively making him available on a free transfer.
The former Bayern Munich star has so far shown no inclination to let himself be forced out.
He was pictured this week playing golf near his Cheshire home with his new bride, tennis star Ana Ivanovic, while the rest of his United teammates were in Holland for a Europa League tie against Feyenoord.
But with United still owing him an estimated £7m in wages and Schweinsteiger facing two years on the sidelines, a compromise settlement package would look to be in the interest of both parties.
United ended last Sunday’s trip to Watford on the wrong end of a three-game losing streak, for the first time since the days of Louis van Gaal last December, something deemed “unacceptable” by long-serving defender Chris Smalling.
The early feel-good factor generated by Mourinho’s appointment has been dissipated by defeats against Manchester City and Feyenoord in the past week and confusion over what United’s best line-up is.
In particular, Mourinho has to try and get the best out of £89m record signing Paul Pogba, while the presence of captain Wayne Rooney as a No 10 is restricting the impact of £28m summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford.
While Rashford has indicated that he would be willing to play out wide, it is clear his favoured position is as a No 9 where Zlatan Ibrahimovic is currently first choice.
“Of course I am happy to play in any of the attacking roles, but for me where I can score the most goals is down the middle,” he said.
“In the past I’ve played other positions. That’s helped because when I am asked to play in those positions, it is natural. I am not being forced to do something I’m not sure I can do.”
Left-back Luke Shaw, rested for the trip to Holland, has warned that United are starting too slowly.
“We weren’t at it. We started slow and that carried on through the whole first half,” he said.
“In the second half, we came out and used the presence of (Marouane) Fellaini a bit more.
“We started to get some chances out of that but unfortunately we didn’t score.”
United’s big guns are urging fans not to panic after three bad results, with Ibrahimovic, who won a Serie A title with Mourinho at Inter Milan, insisting: “He (Mourinho) is a winner. I see myself as a winner also. We won when we were young and we will win when we are a little bit older. From here we will become better. And even better than that.”
Rashford added: “I don’t think confidence has been knocked. It is football.
“You aren’t going to win every game so you need to get back to training, learn and move on.”
Smalling is in line for his first Premier League start of the season.
In midfield Fellaini looks to be the chosen partner for Pogba, though Mourinho also has the option of playing Ander Herrera or Michael Carrick as a third midfielder to give his expensive Frenchman a greater license to break forward. – Daily Mail