Manchester United news: Bastian Schweinsteiger thrown lifeline as Jose Mourinho recalls him to training

Schweinsteiger has been exiled from the United first-team squad but was a surprise face on Monday morning as Jose Mourinho recalled the World Cup winner

Jose Mourinho appeared to make a U-turn over his decision to banish Bastian Schweinsteiger from United training (Getty)

The latest twist in Manchester United’s rollercoaster season has seen Jose Mourinho hand a lifeline to out-of-favour midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger after including the World Cup winner in first-team training for the first time in months, suggesting that he could be given the chance to salvage his career at Old Trafford.

Schweinsteiger was banished from the United squad earlier this season after being forced to train either on his own or with the Under-23s, while he was told to clean out his locker in the first-team dressing room with the space required for those players still in Mourinho’s plans.

The 32-year-old looked nailed on for a premature departure, having been signed by Louis van Gaal in a £7m deal from Bayern Munich last summer, but it appears Mourinho is considering bringing the World Cup winner back into the equation in an effort to get United moving in the right direction.

Schweinsteiger was pictured taking part in United’s training session this morning, with Mourinho taking charge of practice two days after his side drew 0-0 with Burnley despite having an incredible 37 shots on goal. The German was pictured smiling and laughing, and at one point shared a joke with captain Wayne Rooney – himself currently out of Mourinho’s starting line-up after poor form this season combined with an injury suffered two weeks ago.

With United facing six matches in November due to their participation in the Europa League and EFL Cup quarter-finals as well as the Premier League, Mourinho will need to manage his squad carefully to ensure they do not suffer more injuries given they are already without defenders Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia.

Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to Manchester United's first-team training on Monday (Getty)

Wayne Rooney looked particularly happy to see Schweinsteiger back in training (Getty)

Schweinsteiger took part in the full session for the first time since August (Getty)

Schweinsteiger has not played a minute of football for United under Mourinho (Getty)

That could lead to a recall for Schweinsteiger, who has not played for United since the 1-0 derby victory over Manchester City on 20 March this year where he came off the substitutes’ bench for the last 20 minutes before suffering a medial collateral ligament injury that ended his season prematurely.

Schweinsteiger did feature in Germany’s Euro 2016 campaign, but his last appearance for his country came in the 2-0 friendly victory over Finland on 31 August that signalled the end of his international career, meaning he has not played any competitive football for two months and has been left out of United’s plans for over half a year.

With Schweinsteiger on a £130,000-a-week contract that does not expire until 2018, he has not shown a public desire to leave the club, and confirmed that he will not play for another club in Europe as United were the only side who could lure him away from Bayern.