José Mourinho has hinted that he may be ready to keep Bastian Schweinsteiger at Manchester United until the end of the season – reports Express Sport. The German World Cup winner was frozen out of the first-team immediately upon the arrival of the Portuguese and The reasons for the 31-year-old not being part of the Mourinho setup straight away is still not clear. However, Schweinsteiger did not seem to have a future at United with Mourinho signing a three-year contract.
Schweinsteiger’s contract still has more than 12 months left, but it seemed unlikely that United would let him leave on a free transfer considering that he was not even remotely close to the first-team at the start of the campaign. Since then, however, his status within the squad has slowly improved. After being recalled to train with the first team a few months ago, Schweinsteiger made his first appearance of the season in the EFL Cup against West Ham. It may have been as a late substitute and he may never feature for the club again, but Schweinsteiger looks set to remain at the club until the end of the campaign.
Mourinho says that he wants the player to remain at Old Trafford unless an extraordinary offer arrives in January. He said:
“I do. Unless the player knocks on our door with a future that he wants to grab with both hands.Then I never stop players doing what they want if, I repeat, if the conditions are right for the club.”
It was revealed a few weeks ago that Schweinsteiger was in discussions with several MLS clubs in the hope of securing a move in January. Such a move would make the German available for the new 2017 MLS campaign while also providing him some time to settle in the new surroundings.
Players who have been under major doubt was defender Marcos Rojo, who has had a new lease of life in the last few weeks. The injuries to Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly forced the manager to use the Argentine defender in the central defence. It has been a revelation since Rojo has been astonishingly good for United. He has also formed an impeccable partnership with Phil Jones. This partnership was the basis for the 1-0 win over Tottenham during the weekend. Rojo and Jones barely gave Harry Kane a kick in the 90 minutes.
Even Mourinho has admitted that he is surprised with the way Rojo has transformed. He continued:
“In a period when we were without Bailly and Smalling, when people could be scared, they [Rojo and Jones] stepped up.
“Both have played so many matches already – seven without defeat – and played well and solid so I’m really happy for that.”
At the start of the campaign, the 26-year-old was largely limited to Europa League and the EFL Cup appearances. It has been only since November that he has started featuring in the team on a more regular basis. His impressive form in partnership with Jones was so good that Mourinho decided to postpone Eric Bailly’s return to the Premier League starting line-up during the weekend.
