Here are the latest Manchester United news stories circulating in the Twitterverse, blogosphere, cyberspace and media world. It may be another very dull international break, but we still have plenty of news to get to. We cover items on Bastian Schweinsteiger, Wayne Rooney, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly.
We begin with Mkhitaryan, who’s a doubt for the Manchester derby on the 10th against City; due to his limping out of a game while international duty.
Mkhitaryan has since returned to Carrington for treatment with the Armenian FA warning that initial tests on the 27-year-old were “not encouraging”.
A statement read: “As reported, senior national team captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan received an injury against Czech Republic and as a result was unable to continue the match.
Wayne Rooney has said it suits him to play in a deep midfield role for England despite Manchester United using him in a different way as a No 10.
Rooney was played in midfield by United at the end of last season by previous manager Louis van Gaal, but the Dutchman’s successor Jose Mourinho does not want to use him in that role.
ESPN FC cites Wayne Rooney’s interview with ITV Sport, in which the attacker said: “Once the team was announced, a lot thought I’d play higher — but it suits me for this team, the way we play. I have no problem playing there.”
Via the Manchester Evening News
Eric Bailly has left Jose Mourinho with a defensive headache for January.
The Manchester United defender helped Ivory Coast qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations – meaning he will be gone for up to a month of the Premier League season, and is almost certain to miss the clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Juventus and German national team midfielder Sami Khedira is observing what’s going on with Bastian Schweinsteiger right now, and he feels that Schweinsteiger “does not deserve” to be treated this way.
Khedira said of Schweinsteiger in an interview with Die Welt.
“You have to accept it if Jose Mourinho has other plans. The overall situation is a shame, because Bastian is player I’ve looked up to.
“On the other hand you have to understand the club. Football is business.”
For the latest on the Schweinsteiger situation go here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.