Schweinsteiger: Mourinho admits regret over treatment of German
Manchester United boss José Mourinho has revealed he has said sorry to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who joined MLS side Chicago Fire this week.
Jose Mourinho has admitted that he regrets his treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger at Manchester United, and has apologised to the German.
Schweinsteiger left Old Trafford this week, signing a deal with MLS side Chicago Fire after failing to secure regular first-team football under Mourinho.
The 32-year-old played just four times after the Portuguese took over at United last year, following on from an injury-plagued debut season under Louis van Gaal.
Mourinho: If I could do it over, I'd handle him differently
But Mourinho now accepts he was wrong to isolate the popular veteran from his squad and would act differently if he had the chance to make the decision again.
"I do regret it, yeah," Mourinho told a press conference on Friday. "What would I do different? I would let him be in the squad.
"I knew in that moment we had too many players. If you remember we had many players in a doubtful situation.
"But after knowing him as a professional and as a person, the way he was behaving and the way he was respecting my decisions as a manager, yes I regret [it].
"And it is no problem for me admitting it and he knows that because I told him.
"What I knew about him was a season full of injuries, a season where he almost didn't play, a season where he was having treatment outside of the club, and I thought that was not right, the mentality was not right.
"It was the kind of player who I would not like to have in the club."
Mou: "I feel sorry...Schweinsteiger knows that"
United paid Bayern 16.7 million euros for Schweinsteiger in 2015 but he rarely showed even glimpses of the form that had made him such a feared midfielder.
He still retained cult status among United fans, even though his league appearances for the club amount to 18 games over nearly two full campaigns.
However, Mourinho conceded he did not handle the situation well and was unfair on the veteran.
By way of an apology, the former Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss allowed Schweinsteiger to leave even though he admits he could have used his services over the remaining weeks of a busy season.
"He is in the category of players I feel sorry for something I did to him," said Mourinho.
"I don't want to speak about him as a player I would or would not buy. I want to speak about him as a professional, as a human being.
"It was the last thing I told him before he left - I was not right with you once, I have to be right to you now.
"So when he was asking me to let him leave, I had to say yes, you can leave because I did it once, I cannot do it twice.
"I could not stop him to go, even though I know we have so many matches and probably would need him for a few matches or a few periods.
"So I feel sorry for the first period with him, he knows that, I am happy that he knows, because I told him.
"I'll miss a good guy, a good pro, a very good influence in training. But I had to let him go and now publicly wish him and his wife a very happy life in Chicago."