There was a shock at Carrington on Halloween yesterday as Bastian Schweinsteiger rejoined the Manchester United first team for training for the first time since the appointment of Jose Mourinho, claim the Manchester Evening News. With a trip to Turkey on Thursday and United’s options in the middle of the park looking slim with Ander Herrera suspended in the Premier League, Schweinsteiger may be given one last opportunity in a Red Devils shirt.
However, the MEN also claim that the club have not changed their stance and remain desperate to get Schweinsteiger off their hands with a move in January still likely. The German has seemed keen on a move out of Europe and is unlikely to change his mind on an exit unless Mourinho performs a complete U-turn.
As Schweinsteiger returned to first team training, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was seen training alone on Sunday as some sources suggested that he was the latest target to be isolated by Mourinho, but the Manchester Evening News claim that the truth was that the Armenian actually came in for extra training in a bid to boost his fitness.
The former Dortmund playmaker has been out of action since defeat to Manchester City in the league, his only Premier League start to date since signing for £26 million in the summer, and is now fully fit but has yet to earn a place in the squad.
Luke Shaw has explained to Sky Sports that even if Jose Mourinho is given a stadium ban after clashing with Mark Clattenburg in the tunnel at Old Trafford, him and his teammates will continue work as normal:
“It’s always nice to have him there on the sideline because he likes to give information out to us, especially the full-backs. We get to do what he wants during the whole week. He’s working with us for the whole week, so there’s no worries if he’s not on the sidelines. We’ve got Rui (Faria, assistant manager) and he’s a good character as well. I don’t know what happened with the way he got sent to the stands because I was only focused on the game.”
Shaw was reported to have been at the centre of a falling out with the former Real Madrid boss after criticisms of his display at Watford, but things now seem to be back to normal as the young left back tries to work his way back into the starting eleven.
Featured Image: All rights reserved by Craig Ballantyne.