5 worst signings made by Louis van Gaal at Manchester United

#4 Bastian Schweinsteiger

Schweinsteiger played little and got paid a lot

Bastian Schweinsteiger has undoubtedly been one of the most notable midfielders of this generation. The veteran was a fine reader of the game, could score well, was versatile enough to either shift to the flank or play through the centre and was the driving force behind Bayern Munich’s and German national team’s success over the years. When United signed him up from the Bavarians for a fee worth €9 million, everyone thought that it was a bargain.

After all, Schweinsteiger brought a winning mentality and leadership ability that was missing in the United squad ever since Fergie’s retirement. However, the move turned out to be quite disastrous as it was later realized that Bayern had agreed to sell him as the former captain was carrying a long due knee injury. It hampered his impact in England as Bastian found it extremely difficult to adjust himself to the pace and physicality of the Premier League. He was particularly overrun and demolished by Mesut Ozil in the midfield in Arsenal's 3-0 thrashing of United in 2015.

After Jose Mourinho’s arrival, Schweinsteiger was quite literally frozen out of the team as the gaffer had problems with the player’s attitude in training. He made only a handful of appearances while reportedly taking wages £200,000 per week. Schweinsteiger had minimal influence on the pitch and he left for Chicago Fire in March 2017. The experienced campaigner made just 18 league appearances throughout his stay and scored once in Premier League before his move to the MLS.

All of those league appearances came in the 2015/16 season, and that indicates that he was unfit and did not adapt readily to adjust to the hardships of the Premier League. Schweinsteiger scored just once in the league and recorded no assists whatsoever. He made six appearances in the Champions League too, and even there he failed to provide any goal contribution.