Schweinsteiger fires parting shot at Bayern

AFP, BERLIN: The news Bastian Schweinsteiger is poised to join Manchester United on a three-year contract means Germany’s captain will end his 17-year love-affair with FC Bayern Munich.
It looked like Schweinsteiger would finish his career in Munich when he bellowed “long live Bayern!” into the loudspeaker at the Allianz Arena following a league match in December 2010.
Back then, he personally broke the news to Bayern’s die-hard fans that he had signed a contract extension until 2016, which he will not now fulfil.
After winning his eighth Bundesliga title last season and having been part of the 2013 treble-winning side which won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup, there are simply no new horizons to conquer with Bayern for the star their fans dubbed ‘Fussball Gott’—football god.
The 30-year-old midfielder will cost United around 20 million euros ($22.31m), but such is his esteem in Munich that Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has already promised Schweinsteiger a testimonial game when his career is over.
Should he pass the medical to sign for United as expected, he will reportedly receive £140,000 (EUR195,000, $217,000) per week in Manchester, £7.2m (EUR10m, $11.2m) per season, which matches the 10 million euros he was receiving in Munich.
Schweinsteiger will be the first German to play for United.
As Rummenigge said on Saturday when confirming the news no Bayern fan wanted to hear, Schweinsteiger has grown up with the Munich club.
“In terms of personality, you can’t replace ‘Basti’ like for like,” admitted Bayern’s director of sport Matthias Sammer.
Having acquired a wealth of experience in his 536 appearances for Bayern, United will sign a finished article, but Schweinsteiger’s personality—and more importantly his leadership—was something which was questioned in the past.
In 2011, former Bayern and Germany captain Oliver Kahn said Schweinsteiger lacked the ‘real leadership skills’ Germany needed to win titles.
He heads to England with the blessing of Germany coach Joachim Loew and a promise his exit from the Bundesliga will not harm his prospects of captaining Germany at next June’s Euro 2016 in France.
Not only his English, but also his media skills will be sharpened by dealing with the British tabloids on a regular basis.
They dubbed him a ‘dirty Schwein’ when he scored a second-half equaliser in a Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford in April 2014 before being sent off on 90 minutes for a second yellow card.
Bayern banned two English newspapers for the return leg in Munich, which the Bavarians won 3-1 as Schweinsteiger sat out while serving his suspension.
Rummenigge went to pains to halt the rumour mill peddling notions that Schweinsteiger is quitting Bayern due to problems with coach Pep Guardiola: “I would like to refer to that in the realm of fairytales,” he said drily.
But in his two seasons under Guardiola, Schweinsteiger never looked as comfortable as he did in the 2013 season under Jupp Heynckes when he forged a solid defensive midfield partnership alongside Javi Martinez.

Schweinsteiger fires parting shot at Bayern

AFP, BERLIN: The news Bastian Schweinsteiger is poised to join Manchester United on a three-year contract means Germanys captain will end his 17-year love-affair with FC Bayern Munich. It looked like Schweinsteiger would finish his career in Munich when he bellowed long live Bayern! into the loudspeaker at the Allianz Arena following a league match in December 2010. Back then, he personally broke the news to Bayerns die-hard fans that he had signed a contract extension until 2016, which he will not now fulfil. After winning his eighth Bundesliga title last season and having been part of the 2013 treble-winning side which won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup, there are simply no new horizons to conquer with Bayern for the star their fans dubbed Fussball Gottfootball god. The 30-year-old midfielder will cost United around 20 million euros ($22.31m), but such is his esteem in Munich that Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has already promised Schweinsteiger a testimonial game when his career is over. Should he pass the medical to sign for United as expected, he will reportedly receive 140,000 (EUR195,000, $217,000) per week in Manchester, 7.2m (EUR10m, $11.2m) per season, which matches the 10 million euros he was receiving in Munich. Schweinsteiger will be the first German to play for United. As Rummenigge said on Saturday when confirming the news no Bayern fan wanted to hear, Schweinsteiger has grown up with the Munich club. In terms of personality, you cant replace Basti like for like, admitted Bayerns director of sport Matthias Sammer. Having acquired a wealth of experience in his 536 appearances for Bayern, United will sign a finished article, but Schweinsteigers personalityand more importantly his leadershipwas something which was questioned in the past. In 2011, former Bayern and Germany captain Oliver Kahn said Schweinsteiger lacked the real leadership skills Germany needed to win titles. He heads to England with the blessing of Germany coach Joachim Loew and a promise his exit from the Bundesliga will not harm his prospects of captaining Germany at next Junes Euro 2016 in France. Not only his English, but also his media skills will be sharpened by dealing with the British tabloids on a regular basis. They dubbed him a dirty Schwein when he scored a second-half equaliser in a Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford in April 2014 before being sent off on 90 minutes for a second yellow card. Bayern banned two English newspapers for the return leg in Munich, which the Bavarians won 3-1 as Schweinsteiger sat out while serving his suspension. Rummenigge went to pains to halt the rumour mill peddling notions that Schweinsteiger is quitting Bayern due to problems with coach Pep Guardiola: I would like to refer to that in the realm of fairytales, he said drily. But in his two seasons under Guardiola, Schweinsteiger never looked as comfortable as he did in the 2013 season under Jupp Heynckes when he forged a solid defensive midfield partnership alongside Javi Martinez.