Manchester United have excluded Bastian Schweinsteiger from their 27-man squad for the Europa League group stages.
BBC and other media outlets have reported Manchester United’s squad for the group stages of Europa League. The Red Devils have named a 27-man squad for the second-tier European competition with Bastian Schweinsteiger’s name being excluded from the lineup.
The midfield veteran recently bid farewell to an illustrious international career with Germany and told reporters after his last international match that he still envisioned himself playing in the United shirt.
Jose Mourinho then surprised the media and Manchester United fans by naming the 32-year-old in his Premier League squad, which gave Bastian some hope of regaining first-team status at Old Trafford.
The happiness appears to be short-lived though, as the Portuguese manager has decided to exclude the player from his 27-man squad for the Europa League, which means that the German would be ineligible to take part in the European competition for the club.
There do not seem to be many surprises elsewhere with the inclusion of Sam Johnstone as the third goalkeeper in case the first two are unavailable. However, Manchester United fans would be excited at Mourinho naming academy duo Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Axel Tuanzebe in the squad for the European competition.
Manchester United Squad list for 2016-17 Europa League
Goalkeepers : David De Gea, Sergio Romero, Sam Johnstone
Defenders : Eric Bailly, Daley Blind, Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Antonio Valencia, Matteo Darmian, Marcus Rojo, Phil Jones, Axel Tuanzebe
Midfielders : Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marouane Fellaini, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young
Forwards : Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford
Manchester United’s competitive games thus far have failed to feature academy names, Rashford the only youth to play for Mourinho yet.
Even Rashford has failed to start a single game for United and has seen his game time restricted to cameo appearances off the bench. But his latest performance against Hull City is likely to catapult his stature in the eyes of the Portuguese tactician.
With the inclusion of Fosu-Mensah and Tuanzebe, it appears that there are some young players in Jose Mourinho’s first-team plans at Old Trafford and confirms earlier reports of the Portuguese earmarking the duo for first-team appearances before the start of the season.
