Jose Mourinho could offer Bastian Schweinsteiger a Manchester United lifeline

Schweinsteiger's debut United season hasn't gone down well but if Louis van Gaal goes their could be a silver lining for the midfielder


Bastian Schweinsteiger could have run out of time to prove to United's hierarchy their investment was money well spent but there could be a silver lining for the World Cup winner because Jose Mourinho is a fan.
The Reds outlay of £6m looked a bargain but his big wage packet offset that cheap initial outlay to Bayern Munich last summer.
Manager Louis van Gaal has admitted that executive vice chairman Ed Woodward and the Old Trafford bean counters needed some persuading to sign a player who was already in his 30s.
Van Gaal has since expressed his disappointment that the influential midfielder who he transformed during his spell as boss at Bayern hasn't come up to expectations.
He went public saying: “Bastian has been unlucky because he picked up an injury at a time that he was playing very well – he was improving,’ said Van Gaal.
"However, during December I said that I expect more and he was very disappointed I said that, but I think I can say that because my expectation is higher.”
Since that honest assessment Schweinsteiger hasn't done anything to alter the Dutchman's appraisal. He returned from 13 matches out with a knee injury for four games as a sub and then partially tore his knee ligaments again playing an innocuous pass this week in training on international duty.
It's almost certainly the end of his debut campaign at Old Trafford and one that after all the excitement and hype surrounding his arrival last July now has to go down in LVG's debut column.
If Van Gaal's time is up in the summer then there is no time for Schweinsteiger to change the perception of the Dutchman's choice and one that raised the eyebrows of Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer last summer, “I find it very brave to make a move like this at his age,” Beckenbauer said.
“People know Schweinsteiger at Bayern and know what he can do. That's not the case in England and he will have to prove himself all over again. I wish him all the best and hope he can represent German football well in England, but not a lot of players have succeeded in doing so.”
Even when he was fit Schweinsteiger did not fully disprove Beckenbauer's theory.
So if Jose Mourinho is the heir apparent at United will the German be given a lifeline and continue the three-year contract he signed at Old Trafford?
Well, Mourinho was certainly in Schweinsteiger's corner two years ago at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil