After making some high profile signings this summer, Manchester United and Jose Mourinho are looking at cutting the squad down to size.
Two signings left behind by Jose Mourinho’s predecessors are reportedly no longer needed at Old Trafford. While promising young full-back Guillermo Varela is looking to depart for the Bundesliga, the club are pondering over how to axe Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Manchester United will lose £14 million on Schweinsteiger
Louis van Gaal made some questionable transfers during his reign as Manchester United manager. The marquee signing of his first season in charge, Angel di Maria, was a major flop, while Bastian Schweinsteiger has also failed to have an impact at Old Trafford apart from shirt sales.
The German international joined United from Bayern Munich for £6.5 million last summer, but Van Gaal failed to take into consideration Schweinsteiger’s vulnerability to injuries. The club paid the price as he made just 18 league appearances for Manchester United last season.
This continued the trajectory of Schweinsteiger’s decreasing league appearances since the 2012-13 season, when he made 28 appearances. A knee injury kept him out of action during the tail end of last season, but he managed to regain fitness for Euro 2016. He was again hit by his knee problems and became a major doubt for the semi-final against France, but recovered enough to play a part as they crashed out of the tournament.
New manager Jose Mourinho is not keen on retaining the German’s services and the Manchester United hierarchy are trying their best to find a way to terminate his contract or move him on to another club. However, failing a transfer, they will still have to pay the £14 million they owe him on the three-year contract he signed last year.
“Bastian will cost every penny of the £14 million still owed to him on his two-years left,” a source was quoted as saying to the Sun. “He has had talks with Jose over his future but it is still uncertain at this stage. The new few weeks will reveal more.
“He will not be pushed out and will sit tight for pay-off.”
The German captain’s injury problems have even prompted former Mannschaft captain Michael Ballack to urge him to consider international retirement.
Guillermo Varela set for loan move to Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt
The first signing of the David Moyes era was that of Guillermo Varela from Uruguayan club Penarol in the summer of 2013. He made no appearances in the 2013-14 season and was loaned out to Real Madrid Castilla the next summer, for whom he went on to make 33 appearances.
Varela emerged as a key back-up player for Manchester United this past season, where he put in some crucial performances in his 11 appearances in all competitions for the club. The youngster does not appear to feature in Mourino’s plans though, with the Uruguayan and fellow defender Tyler Blackett both on the verge of an exit from Old Trafford.
The 23-year-old full-back is now in talk with Bundesliga minnows Eintracht Frankfurt over a possible loan move, according to German publication Kicker. The report goes on to state that the move is still some time away, with Frankfurt trying to include a purchase option for a lower price in the one-year loan deal that they are negotiating.
The Uruguayan did show flashes of potential, so the club would be loathe to loose him on a permanent transfer as of now. Manchester United will be boosted by the return of Luke Shaw and, barring another injury crisis like last season, have an ample contingent of full-backs ready to make up for the loss of Varela. Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson can all be used in place of first choice full-backs Shaw and Matteo Darmian.
