As impending transfer klaxons go, this seems like a big one.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has told journalists that reported Manchester United target Bastian Schweinsteiger is “flattered” to be linked with a move to the Red Devils.
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Schweinsteiger, 30, has just one year left on his current deal at Bayern and for most of the summer interest from his former boss at Bayern, Louis van Gaal, has been reported.
The captain of the German national team has been at Bayern his entire career but with his manager Pep Guardiola urging Schweinsteiger to “make up his mind” sooner rather than later the combative midfielder certainly has option.
“I have spoken to Bastian on the phone while we have been on holiday and will speak again now that he is back,” Rummenigge said. “I cannot deny the fact that I have understood during these conversations that he is flattered by the interest from England.”
Rummenigge is due to meet Schweinsteiger in the coming days to try and sort out the situation, as the man who has won eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern and a World Cup with Germany is high on the list of United’s central midfield targets. As I’ve mentioned before, Schweinsteiger would be a perfect signing for United as he could sit in the center of the pitch and break up play before starting attacks. His intelligent positioning and his economic use of the ball would help knit United’s midfield and attack together, as they struggled to do that for large parts of last season.
That said, Schweinsteiger is almost part of the furniture at the Allianz Arena and has suggested he would like to stay on next season and win a fourth-straight Bundesliga crown, but the man who has scored 67 goals in 500 appearances for the Bavarian giants may be tempted to join LVG’s revolution at United after he flourished playing for the Dutchman from 2009-11 when he moved from a wide role into the center of the pitch.
United’s other top central midfield target is said to be 25-year-old Morgan Schnedierlin from Southampton, but with Saints holding out for $40 million for the Frenchman, perhaps United will push through a move to snap up Schweinsteiger for around $15 million and hopes his experience of winning trophies in Germany, Europe and the international stage rubs off on plenty of their young talent.
