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Jose Mourinho's treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger ever since arriving at Manchester United has been nothing short of controversial. The Portuguese manager wrote off the German midfielder, made it clear he was not on his plans and even sent him to the United under-23 side, not even allowing him to train with the first team. Mourinho hoped Bastian would be sold, but that didn't happen and the German is still (not) in the team.
Plenty of people have both criticized Jose and defended Schweinsteiger since the news came out, and his Germany teammates are speaking out. First it was Lukas Podolski, who said Mourinho's decision was "simply not right", and now it is a Manchester City star who's decided to defend Schweini.
Ilkay Gundogan, who returns to the national team after a year out, spoke to German media and called Jose's treatment of his former teammate "disrespectful".
"I believe that Manchester United could 100 per cent benefit from a fit Bastian Schweinsteiger. If everything you hear and read is true, you can consider it disrespectful. He's not just some player, and also not only 18 or 19."
Source: Sport Bild via Sky Sports
Germans stick together!