Pep Guardiola: Schweinsteiger must choose between Bayern Munich and Man United
The 30-year-old German World Cup winner has been linked in media reports with a move to Manchester United, where he would be reunited with manager Louis van Gaal who converted him from a wide player into a central midfielder during his time at Bayern.
“If Schweinsteiger wants to stay here then that’s perfect. He’s a top player,” Guardiola said yesterday.
“Of course, I am planning to work with Basti next season. Basti has to decide. Basti has managed a great career. He must decide what he does alone. I told him: ‘The future depends on you.’”
Schweinsteiger came through the youth ranks at Bayern and has spent 13 seasons with the Bavarians, winning the Bundesliga title eight times.
While United remain hopeful of signing him, their pursuit of fellow German international Ilkay Gundogan ended yesterday after the midfielder extended his contract with Borussia Dortmund.
The 24-year-old has signed a new deal that sees him remain at the eight-times Bundesliga champions until June 2017. He had been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford.
The former Nurnberg midfielder has played 80 league games for Die Schwarzgelben since making the switch in May 2011, scoring nine goals and providing 10 assists.
United, for their part, are preparing to head for the US as their pre-season plans get into full swing, and assistant manager Ryan Giggs has urged the club’s youngsters to seize their chance to impress boss Louis van Gaal.
The Dutchman has promised to give a number of the junior players opportunities on the tour to the United States as he is keen to reestablish the production line from the academy to the first team.
Giggs, who is one of the most famous examples of that progression, has some words of advice for those travelling to America.
“Young players might come on tour thinking they’ll not get many minutes but then suddenly there’ll be an injury to a senior player,” he said.
“The young player might then have a 10 or 15-minute cameo, play really well, get into the team for the next game and do really well again.
“So, the tour is definitely an important stage for the young players to make their mark. I think you’ve seen a lot of players play well in pre-season and take that into the first part of the season.
“It’s a massive thing as an individual to get the best out of yourself. If you can get off to a good start, it gives you confidence, so you definitely can’t take the pre-season games lightly. Gone are the days when you’d play easy games, every match is tough.”
Giggs is starting his second full year as assistant at Old Trafford, but newly-appointed Holland manager Danny Blind — whose son Daley is a United player — has said he turned down the chance to be reunited with Van Gaal last season.
“I had a fantastic offer from Manchester United,” Blind, who was assistant to Van Gaal for Holland’s 2014 World Cup campaign, told Algemeen Dagblad.
“There were talks about United and Van Gaal a couple of times last year, but I rejected that. If you have ambition, what is more beautiful than becoming manager of your country?”
Meanwhile United’s hopes of offloading striker Javier Hernandez are in disarray after he was taken to hospital when he suffered an injury while playing for Mexico against Honduras in a Gold Cup warm-up match on Wednesday night.
According to reports, the 27-year-old has suffered a broken collarbone. A significant injury not only rules Hernandez out of the Gold Cup, but complicates his attempts to secure a move away from Old Trafford after a season on loan with Real Madrid, who declined an option to make the move permanent.
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