German newspaper Bild are reporting that Manchester United have made their first official offer for Bayern Munich midifelder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The German World Cup winner has been linked with a move to Old Trafford all summer and his club have intimated on numerous occasions that if he wishes to leave, they will not stand in his way.
Earlier today it had been reported that Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had said: “I spoke to him on the phone while on holiday and we’re going to meet again when he’s back. I’m not going to hide that I discerned from these talks that he is flattered by the interest from England.”
Bild do not mention a transfer fee – thought to be around £10m – but specifically mention the wages at £7m a year, which works out at roughly £135,000 per week.
Schweinsteiger, who turns 31 in August, has 111 caps for the national team and has played 500 times for Bayern, having been there all of his career.
With a year left on his contract, it appears that Bayern have been something of a driving force behind the transfer, though the player himself has remained silent. If United do sign him, not only will they be acquiring a player who won the World Cup, they will be getting an eight-time league champion, who won the Champions League and World Club Cup in 2012 as well.
Compared to United’s current crop of midfielders, Schweinsteiger’s statistics look favourable – a pass completion rate of 88% was completed by a chance creation of almost two per game and 1.5 tackles per game.
So far this year, with the Depay and Darmian transfers, the news has generally leaked from media outlets in the home countries of the respective players, and if history is to repeat itself, then United could find themselves on the verge of signing of the most decorated players of this century.
