Manchester United sign World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger
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Louis van Gaal has made another superb summer signing, after snapping up Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich for a fee believed to be in the region of £14.4m.
The German midfielder who made 536 appearances for his former club since his debut in 2002 and who won the World Cup with his country last year has penned a three-year deal thought to be worth around £7.2m per year.
#mufc is delighted to announce the signing of @BSchweinsteiger from Bayern Munich on a 3-year contract. #WelcomeBasti pic.twitter.com/jGcC2K1HLD
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 13, 2015
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Bayern Munich, it has been an incredible journey and I didn’t take the decision to leave lightly,” stated Schweinsteiger.
“Manchester United is the only club that I would have left Munich for. I feel ready for this new and exciting challenge in what I regard as the most competitive league in the world and I am looking forward to working with Louis van Gaal again.
“I will never forget my time at Bayern Munich and I would like to thank everyone at the club and the fans for the great memories.”
Bayern’s Chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge recently said: “My colleagues at Manchester United have been in touch. We’ve reached an agreement over a transfer.
“It’s regrettable because Bastian meant a great deal to the club. He achieved great things but he wants to do something new at the end of his career. He asked that we meet his wishes.
“We tried to convince him to stay with Bayern Munich. But I also understand that a player who has spent 17 years at Bayern Munich still wants to gain a new experience.”
Having won almost everything there is to win domestically in Germany, Schweinsteiger will be looking to add the Premier League title to his medal collection. Whether he will play every game for the Red Devils, remains to be seen, with Van Gaal already well stocked in midfield.
Primarily a deep lying playmaker, with a gift for anticipating the pattern of play, he is likely to be in competition with Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind for a starting spot, though depending on what system United play next term, he could well operate alongside all three.
Louis van Gaal on Schweinsteiger: "He brings a wealth of experience and is an excellent addition to our squad." pic.twitter.com/BXnFgSsDxN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 13, 2015
The 30-year-old follows exciting winger Memphis Depay into the club, after he switched earlier in the summer for £31m from PSV Eindhoven, as well as Italy right back Matteo Darmian. The former Torino defender recently arrived at Old Trafford, while Southampton parted with Morgan Schneiderlin for £25m, as United look to make another serious signal of intent to reclaim the Premier League.
Schweinsteiger will join his new teammates on Man Utd’s pre-season tour of the United States, where Van Gaal will begin work on trying to get his squad to gel in time for the new campaign.
Whether he is the type of player that the club needs is questionable, however, there is no doubt that he gives them quality.
