SCHWEIN’S TIME IS UP
Bastian is one of four LVG signings new boss Mourinho’s ready to axe
BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER will be t he biggest name casualty of Jose Mourinho’s clear-out at Manchester United.
The new boss wants to trim a huge squad of 35 players down to around 25 by the end of August.
And World Cup winner Schweinsteiger – who has yet to join up with United after Germany’s progress to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 – will be one of those heading for the exit door.
Three other Louis van Gaal signings – Memphis Depay, Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian – are also under threat as well as Ashley Young.
And a number of youngsters who have made first-team appearances like James Wilson, Tyler Blackett and Will Keane have been told to look for new clubs.
The ex-Chelsea chief has signed three players – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly – and wants to add a central midfielder to complete his summer transfer business.
Paul Pogba is his No.1 target but if the France ace and his club Juventus continue to stall Mourinho has alternatives like Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic and PSG star Blaise Matuidi lined up.
United already have Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind in a well-stocked midfield and that means Schweinsteiger is now surplus to requirements.
The former Bayern Munich star is 31 and his cause is not helped by a nagging knee injury that restricted him to only one brief sub appearance from January onwards last season.
He is regarded as too slow and injury-prone by Mourinho who does not want players moping around with little chance of playing, especially high-earners like Schweinsteiger who is on around £150,000 a week. United’s wage bill has soared since Ibrahimovic arrived on a deal worth around £300,000 a week and it will increase again if Pogba signs on a long-term £11m-a-year contract.
Holland winger Depay has been a huge disappointment since his £25m move from PSV Eindhoven and has done little in United’s first two pre-season games against Wigan and Borussia Dortmund to convince Mourinho that he is going to improve this season.
Darmian and Rojo are not considered good enough despite playing for Italy and Argentina respectively.
Significantly, after Friday’s 4-1 defeat to Dortmund in Shanghai, Mourinho warned that players are on trial.
He said: “There are some players here who are not going to stay in the squad.
“Day by day the players must start to win my trust and start winning their positions in the squad and in the team.” Mourinho wants United to play in a far more dynamic style than they did in LVG’s two seasons in charge and that is another reason Schweinsteiger is not wanted – he is not mobile or aggressive enough and slows play down. Herrera, who impressed in the first two friendlies, says the new manager’s message has been clear – he doesn’t want possession just for possession’s sake and wants to speed things up with more forward rather than sideways passes. The former Athletic Bilbao favourite said: “One of the things we have realised already is that every player is very clear with what they have to do. “We want very aggressive players in midfield, we want to have the ball but not just have the ball. “We want to attack, he wants to attack and I think we are going to see a very offensive Manchester United. “Obviously, when we want to be compact then we are going to do that as well.” Spaniard Herrera believes that despite the heavy loss to Dortmund, the players will reap the benefits of having another game under their belts when they face Manchester City in Beijing tomorrow. It will be the first time that Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will have met since taking over the two clubs and the first Manchester derby to be played overseas. Herrera added: “The Dortmund game was a good workout. They are a very good team and they have already played five games. “We are working hard in training. The day before the Dortmund game we trained twice so you can feel it on the pitch. “But, of course, we want to be ready for the Community Shield game against Leicester because we want to win the first title of the season.”