Bastian Schweinsteiger has left Gary Neville stunned when he told him what Jose Mourinho did to him at Manchester United.
Manchester United appeared to land a major transfer coup when they signed World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger in the summer of 2015, but the midfielder's time at Old Trafford didn't really go according to plan.
After making an encouraging start the German suffered a knee ligament injury that sidelined him for much of the rest of the season.
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Schweinsteiger recovered in time to feature for Germany at Euro 2016, but when he returned to England United had replaced manager Louis Van Gaal with Jose Mourinho.
The star clearly wasn't to The Special One's taste, and left part way through season after starting just one game in all competitions.
Now, Schweinsteiger has revealed the shocking way he was treated by Mourinho.
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Speaking to United legend Gary Neville on The Overlap by SkyBet, the 39-year-old explained that Mourinho banished him from the first team dressing room on his first day of pre-season training.
"The next day, my birthday, I walked in, came to Carrington, John Murtough [United's director of development at the time] was there and he said 'you're not allowed to walk into the dressing room. The coach said so'.
Shocked by the revelation, Neville asked: "What, without any warning?"
Schweinsteiger continued: "No warning, nothing. He just stood there and told me that. It was not easy for him to tell me that, I must say."
The former Bayern Munich man admitted he still has no idea why Mourinho didn't tell him himself.
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"Someone could have told me there, no problem, or just explained to me in a normal way.
"So I went to the youth dressing room, changed there and trained with the Under-16s. I had to ask him [Murtough] to bring me my training kit and cleats.
"I had a meeting with him [Mourinho] in the afternoon. He explained to me that he didn't see me happy at United, because when I had my injury, I did my rehab with the German doctors, for example."
Schweinsteiger suggested that some figures at United felt he showed a lack of commitment by completing his injury rehab with doctors in Germany, although he maintains that decision allowed him to recover in time for Euro 2016.
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The midfielder moved to MLS side Chicago Fire in March 2017, and retired in 2019. He shared that while he was in the US, Mourinho contracted him to apologise for the way he treated him.
Featured Image Credit: The Overlap YouTubeTopics: Football, England, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manchester United, Jose Mourinho, Premier League