Gary Neville slams Manchester United's treatment of World Cup winner as 'illegal'

Gary Neville has slammed Manchester United's treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger as "illegal" after the former Germany international revealed he was made to train with the club's under-16 team during the summer of 2016.

The 39-year-old spent two seasons at Old Trafford after signing from Bayern Munich on a three-year deal for a cut-price £6.8million.

The playmaker was a part of manager Louis van Gaal's plans but after he was sacked and replaced by Jose Mourinho, Schweinsteiger was banished from first team training upon his return from the European Championship in August 2016 as Mourinho settled on a core squad ahead of the new season.

United were on the verge of signing Paul Pogba for a world record £89million, Mourinho instructed the club to offer Michael Carrick a new contract, assured Marouane Fellaini he would not be sold and also had Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin in midfield.

After sustaining a knee injury in the narrow FA Cup third round win against Sheffield United on January 9, Schweinsteiger only made four substitute appearances in the 2015-16 season yet travelled to Dubai, Miami and Stuttgart to watch his partner, tennis player Ana Ivanovic.

The German's jet-setting annoyed senior members of the United dressing room, which Mourinho got wind of as he prepared to replace Van Gaal. Schweinsteiger was banished from United's first-team dressing room and spent the summer of 2016 training with the club's youth sides before he was sold to Major League Soccer outfit Chicago Fire in March 2017.

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Schweinsteiger returned to United team training in late October and Mourinho publicly admitted he regretted his treatment of the World Cup winner.

Recalling the end of his time at United, Schweinsteiger revealed how he thought he was the subject of a cruel joke when he was initially told to train with the club's under-16s side.

"It was 2016 and I was with the German national team, we went far in the competition [Euros] reaching the semi-finals, so I stepped in a little later [at United] and the team were in the US for a pre-season tour," said Schweinsteiger.

"When I arrived on the first day, I trained with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and thought it was great, a player who has the vision and is amazing to play with.

"The next day, on my birthday, when I walked into Carrington, John Murtough was there and said that I wasn’t allowed to walk into the dressing room, the coach had said so. No warning, nothing. I don’t know. Someone could have told me there [on my first day of training] or explained it to me in a normal way, but OK, I went to the youth dressing room and trained with the under 16s.

"Yes, completely [kicked me out of the first team dressing room], so I had to ask him [Murtough] to bring me my boots and training gear. I asked him who I was training with, and he said there was the under-16 team, so I went and trained with the under-16s.

“I asked him whether I could talk to the manager in the afternoon, so when I came back from training with the under 16s, where I trained so bad because I didn’t know what was going on or it was a joke, I then had a meeting with Jose Mourinho in the afternoon.

"He explained to me that he didn’t see me happy here at United because when I had my injury, I did my rehab with German doctors, spending time in Germany. Of course, I came back to United and was in contact with doctors and watched the games – I had a conversation with Louis van Gaal when he was coach, and he said to come on the weekends to United and remain in contact with the doctors, they needed me fit and there was an FA Cup final which I almost played.

"That was our agreement and I kept to it. For me, I just wanted to get healthy and wanted to be able to play – I stuck to the agreement with Louis van Gaal but obviously the board thought a little differently about that.

"It was just me [that got moved to the youth dressing room]. After that, I was training alone for at least three months with a fitness coach. I trained before and after the [first] team. No [Jose never let me train with the first team], I guess they wanted to get rid of me.

"In that moment, I was still super happy at United, I loved to wear the jersey, I loved it. I was thinking that maybe it was just a period, I will train now and keep myself fit and maybe one day they’ll change their mind. My dream was to always step back out into Old Trafford."

Schweinsteiger would force his way back into Mourinho's plans at Old Trafford later that season - albeit briefly - and featured in League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League ties at the start of 2017 before sealing a switch to the MLS in March.

Neville, though, was left stunned by Schweinsteiger's accusations and admitted that in his opinion, as a former representative of the Professional Footballers' Association, United could have faced legal consequences.

“That’s illegal," responded Neville. "I was the PFA Union Representative, and you’re not allowed to do that, you can’t dismiss someone like that, it’s constructive dismissal in some ways.

"It’s probably a few years too late, you should have come and seen me at the time. I’m stunned and embarrassed at what I’m hearing because I always think, players leave clubs and people fall out, but there is a way to do things and a way to behave and act.”