Louis van Gaal has slammed Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho for his treatment of midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, in an interview with Sport Bild.

The 33-year-old joined United from Bayern Munich in 2015 but found himself frozen out of the side when Jose Mourinho replaced van Gaal in 2016, making only 22 starts in all competitions for United until his move to MLS outfit Chicago Fire in March 2017.

For a player who made 500 appearances for Bayern and 121 for Germany, winning eight Bundesliga titles, seven DFB-Pokals, the Champions League and a World Cup, van Gaal believes Schweinsteiger deserved better treatment.

“Schweinsteiger was, of course, older but not too old. His body was not able to keep up with the high demands of Premier League. Bayern sold him to us as fit player, but, in fact, physically he had reached the end,” said the ex-Netherlands and United manager.

“How Mourinho treated him after me, Schweini did not deserve this. But it explains the situation, how it stood with Schweinsteiger. It’s a shame because he is a player like Luis Enrique, Mark van Bommel or Philipp Lahm – the guys who always present on the pitch.”

Schweinsteiger has since made more than 20 appearances for Chicago Fire, helping the MLS outfit to third in the Eastern Conference, where they played New York Red Bulls in the playoffs.

The Premier League proved too tough for the German international at his age, but Mourinho exiling him from the first-team didn’t sit well with supporters and van Gaal.

William Prescott Bastian Schweinsteiger,Jose Mourinho,Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal has slammed Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho for his treatment of midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, in an interview with Sport Bild. The 33-year-old joined United from Bayern Munich in 2015 but found himself frozen out of the side when Jose Mourinho replaced van Gaal in 2016, making only...