Manchester United have announced their 25-man squad for the 2016-17 Premier League season and it has a couple of surprising inclusions, including the veteran German midfielder.
Now that the summer transfer window is over, all Premier League teams have to name their playing squad of 25 for the Premier League. The squad must include at least eight senior (over 21) homegrown players, and changes can only be made during the January transfer window.
Manchester United have named their senior squad, which surprisingly includes Bastian Schweinsteiger. The former German international was frozen out by manager Jose Mourinho and made to train with the reserves. However, he finds himself on the squad list just weeks after Mourinho stated that it would be very difficult for him to play.
The 32-year-old has been aided in large part by the fact that United’s talented youngsters Marcus Rashford, Tim Fosu-Mensah and Anthony Martial are all under the age of 21 and need not be registered as part of the 25-man squad.
This has opened up the door for the inclusion of Schweinsteiger, as well as another surprise entry in Sadi El-Fitouri. The 21-year-old Libyan defender joined Man United from the class of 92′ owned Salford City in 2015, after being recommended by Phil Neville and Paul Scholes.
The United squad looks packed with talent and experience, and Jose Mourinho has a huge squad to choose from. This does not include the U21 squad he can call upon — the same one which threw up the likes of Rashford, Fosu-Mensah and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson last season.
Full Manchester United senior squad:
Bailly, Eric Bertrand
Blind, Daley
*Carrick, Michael
Darmian, Matteo
De Gea Quintana, David
Depay, Memphis
El-Fitouri, Sadik
Fellaini-Bakkioui, Marouane
Herrera Aguera, Ander
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan
*Johnstone, Samuel Luke
*Jones, Philip Anthony
*Lingard, Jesse Ellis
Mata Garcia, Juan Manuel
Mkhitaryan, Henrikh
*Pogba, Paul Labile
Rojo, Faustino Marcos Alberto
Romero, Sergio German
*Rooney, Wayne Mark
*Schneiderlin, Morgan
Schweinsteiger, Bastian
*Smalling, Christopher
Valencia Mosquera, Luis Antonio
*Young, Ashley Simon
(* signifies home grown players)