Manchester United new signing Bastian Schweinsteiger believes he will reach peak fitness in the next week, following injury in the pre-season with his new club.
The World Cup winner, who was a A?14.5 million signing from Bayern Munich, hopes to be in top condition for Tuesday’s Champions League qualifier against Club Brugge having suffered calf problems during the pre-season tour of the USA.
Schweinsteiger made his Manchester United debut as a substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur
“Now I feel much better”
Speaking to United’s official website, Schweinsteiger said: “I had three or four days in America where I had this injury and it was not so good for my rhythm.
“Now I feel much better and the [Tottenham] game was very important to play 30 minutes.
“The training sessions are very important for me, too, and I hope I will be 100 percent fit in the next week.”
Schweinsteiger settling in nicely at Manchester
Having made his move from Munich, the club where he had spent his career so far, Schweinsteiger says he is settling in nicely at Old Trafford.
“Ita s getting better and better,a he said.
“Everything is something new for me a a new step in my life a and Ia m really looking forward to settling in more and more with my team-mates.
“They are helping me a lot and we do a lot of things together in our free time. My team-mates help me to choose restaurants, for example, and golf courses, something like this. But the most important thing is to be successful this season and to win the matches.”
Question mark over fitness
Questions have been raised regarding Schweinsteigera s fitness after he completed his move to Old Trafford this summer. Schweinsteiger’s manager at Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola, had stated that the midfielder had not been fit at Bayern for over three years.
Schweinsteiger missed the friendly fixture against Barcelona after picking up a minor injury, forcing Van Gaal to rest the player.
The German international featured for only 1365 minutes last season in the Bundesliga (2014/15) as compared to 2352 minutes in 2012/13, indicating his struggle with injuries at Munich.
Expected to feature prominently in Van Gaala s plans this season, it will be interesting to see how the German international adapts to the physical nature of the Premier League.
Manchester United play their next Premier League fixture against Aston Villa on Friday night due to their Champions League qualifying game later in the mid-week. Schweinsteiger is expected to make his first start in one of those two games.
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