Up until the last minute, the idea that Bastian Schweinsteiger could leave Bayern Munich appeared so hard to fathom that even well-positioned observers refused to believe it.
"I bet he stays," a senior football reporter from Bild, who has his ear very close to the ground at Sabener Strasse tweeted on Friday morning. He has since deleted it. Two days before, Schweinsteiger had already told Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge that he intended to take up Manchester United on their offer.
Some thought a late change of heart would change his mind but the Germany captain had decided to leave his city and his club, and look for a new challenge. After a last tour on pushbikes through Munich's centre with girlfriend Ana Ivanovic on Sunday afternoon, Schweinsteiger boarded a private jet headed for England. He has left behind supporters who mourn his departure even if most of them understand his reasoning and that of Bayern.
There are are a few unanswered questions, too.
Q: The fee for Schweinsteiger has been reported as €20 million. Was it really that high?
A: No, it wasn't. It's a nice, round sum that looks good on paper. Bayern didn't want to be seen as selling too cheaply, for fear of appearing as if they're dumping one of their talismans; and Manchester United are quite happy for it to be bandied about, for the opposite reason. The actual fee is much closer to €15 million.
Q: So what you're saying is that Bayern were quite happy to let them go?
A: There was certainly an understanding that they would not put an unrealistic price tag on him to prevent his departure. This was not one of those cases, like Toni Kroos' in 2014, where a player simply has to be sold because he's only got one year left on his contract and could otherwise go free 12 months later. Bayern felt they owed their longest-serving player at least an uncomplicated farewell if they didn't make him an offer to extend his contract beyond 2016.
Q: But why didn't they?
A: Until a few months ago, the board were working under the assumption that Schweinsteiger could well run down his contract and then make one last, big move as a free agent, possibly to MLS. When he started talking about playing on until 2018, they realised that it would be difficult to find a satisfactory solution.
By the time the two parties were supposed to sit down and talk about his future, Schweinsteiger had already agreed to make the move to Old Trafford. Faced with his offer -- a three-year deal -- Bayern knew that they couldn't compete. They didn't want to, either.
Q: So this is a big victory for Pep Guardiola, who wanted Schweinsteiger gone, and in return, he'll sign up for a couple of years more beyond 2016?
A: It's not that simple. First, the club and the coach were broadly in agreement here: extending Schweinsteiger's deal for a few more years was too expensive and too risky in light of his injury record and very high wages. There were no diverging opinions at board level, either. It was very unlike the situation before Kroos' move to Real Madrid, when different people had pushed for different outcomes.
But it's true that Guardiola's life will be easier without a player who effectively couldn't be benched, because of his stature, but didn't quite enjoy the same level of confidence. Schweinsteiger was one of Bayern's best performers toward the end of last season, but Guardiola will not have forgotten how much pressure he felt to play the midfielder upon his return from injury in the spring of 2013-14. The manager accommodated the club icon to help his rehabilitation but the team lost their shape and edge in the process.
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| Bastian Schweinsteiger |
"I bet he stays," a senior football reporter from Bild, who has his ear very close to the ground at Sabener Strasse tweeted on Friday morning. He has since deleted it. Two days before, Schweinsteiger had already told Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge that he intended to take up Manchester United on their offer.
Some thought a late change of heart would change his mind but the Germany captain had decided to leave his city and his club, and look for a new challenge. After a last tour on pushbikes through Munich's centre with girlfriend Ana Ivanovic on Sunday afternoon, Schweinsteiger boarded a private jet headed for England. He has left behind supporters who mourn his departure even if most of them understand his reasoning and that of Bayern.
There are are a few unanswered questions, too.
Q: The fee for Schweinsteiger has been reported as €20 million. Was it really that high?
A: No, it wasn't. It's a nice, round sum that looks good on paper. Bayern didn't want to be seen as selling too cheaply, for fear of appearing as if they're dumping one of their talismans; and Manchester United are quite happy for it to be bandied about, for the opposite reason. The actual fee is much closer to €15 million.
Q: So what you're saying is that Bayern were quite happy to let them go?
A: There was certainly an understanding that they would not put an unrealistic price tag on him to prevent his departure. This was not one of those cases, like Toni Kroos' in 2014, where a player simply has to be sold because he's only got one year left on his contract and could otherwise go free 12 months later. Bayern felt they owed their longest-serving player at least an uncomplicated farewell if they didn't make him an offer to extend his contract beyond 2016.
Q: But why didn't they?
A: Until a few months ago, the board were working under the assumption that Schweinsteiger could well run down his contract and then make one last, big move as a free agent, possibly to MLS. When he started talking about playing on until 2018, they realised that it would be difficult to find a satisfactory solution.
By the time the two parties were supposed to sit down and talk about his future, Schweinsteiger had already agreed to make the move to Old Trafford. Faced with his offer -- a three-year deal -- Bayern knew that they couldn't compete. They didn't want to, either.
Q: So this is a big victory for Pep Guardiola, who wanted Schweinsteiger gone, and in return, he'll sign up for a couple of years more beyond 2016?
A: It's not that simple. First, the club and the coach were broadly in agreement here: extending Schweinsteiger's deal for a few more years was too expensive and too risky in light of his injury record and very high wages. There were no diverging opinions at board level, either. It was very unlike the situation before Kroos' move to Real Madrid, when different people had pushed for different outcomes.
But it's true that Guardiola's life will be easier without a player who effectively couldn't be benched, because of his stature, but didn't quite enjoy the same level of confidence. Schweinsteiger was one of Bayern's best performers toward the end of last season, but Guardiola will not have forgotten how much pressure he felt to play the midfielder upon his return from injury in the spring of 2013-14. The manager accommodated the club icon to help his rehabilitation but the team lost their shape and edge in the process.
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