Bastian Schweinsteiger, the former midfielder for Manchester United, recently opened up about an incident during his time at the club involving manager Jose Mourinho. Schweinsteiger revealed that upon returning to Manchester after the Euro 2016 tournament, Mourinho banned him from entering the dressing room. This unexpected exclusion left Schweinsteiger training with the under-16 team instead.
The German midfielder joined Manchester United in 2015 and had a successful first season, making 31 appearances and earning a spot in Germany’s Euro 2016 squad. However, upon his return to the club for pre-season, he found himself out of favor with Mourinho. Schweinsteiger shared his experience with Gary Neville for The Overlap, expressing his surprise and confusion at being banned from the first team’s dressing room.
Schweinsteiger recalled that on his first day back at Carrington, he trained with Zlatan Ibrahimović and was excited about playing alongside such a talented player. However, the following day, on his birthday, he was informed by John Murtough, a club official, that he was not allowed to enter the dressing room. Schweinsteiger was given no warning or explanation but was simply told that the coach had made the decision.
Left with no choice but to train with the under-16 team, Schweinsteiger had to ask Murtough to fetch his cleats and training gear from the first team dressing room. He trained with the youth players and later requested a meeting with Mourinho to discuss the situation. Schweinsteiger described feeling confused and demoralized during his training session with the under-16s since he had no idea why he had been banned.
During his meeting with Mourinho, the manager explained that he didn’t believe Schweinsteiger was happy at Manchester United because of his decision to do his injury rehab in Germany. Schweinsteiger had been in contact with German doctors during his recovery and had even watched United’s games. He had made an agreement with former manager Louis van Gaal to remain in touch with the club’s doctors and return to Manchester on weekends. However, it seemed that the board had a different opinion on the matter.
Following the meeting, Schweinsteiger was left to train alone for at least three months with a fitness coach. He was not allowed to be or train with the first team during this period. Schweinsteiger’s exclusion from the first team shocked Gary Neville, who called it “illegal” treatment. As a former PFA Union Representative, Neville asserted that such actions constituted constructive dismissal.
Schweinsteiger eventually left Manchester United in March 2017 to join Chicago Fire in the MLS. He made 92 appearances for the American side before retiring in October 2019. While his time at Manchester United may have been marred by this incident, Schweinsteiger’s talent and contributions to football cannot be overlooked.