McTominay was initially brought into the side by former manager Jose Mourinho. Since then, he has gone on to make a name for himself at the club.
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Former German star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger revealed that he always knew three young players at Manchester United who would make it big. The Germany World Cup winner was impressed with what he saw from another midfielder Scott McTominay. He was initially brought into the side by former manager Jose Mourinho. Since then, McTominay has gone on to make a name for himself at the club. Besides, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard also caught the eye of the German, with both English players enjoying their United breakthroughs in 2015/16 season – Schweinsteiger’s only full season with the club.
In July 2015, Bastian Schweinsteiger signed for United and went on to make 35 appearances before departing in March 2017. He was part of the team set-up under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. It was the time when a massive overhaul was happening at the club. Many of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 2013 title-winning side was coming to the end of their days with United. As a result, a lot of promising youngsters were promoted to the first team.
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“I tell you one thing: when I was with Mourinho and training with the second team and Under-16 team with United, I saw a lot of good players,” Schweinsteiger told the UTD Podcast. “One was Scott McTominay, and I thought he will make it for sure, he had those abilities. So United has a good youth team – you just need to use them and give them the time to develop.
“I remember Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard when Louis van Gaal was coach. You could see they had something and now they’re playing for the national team. There’s definitely a big chance for United to get those youth players in the first team.”
Schweinsteiger also spoke about the importance of having Academy-reared players like McTominay, Rashford and Lingard in the side. “Correct, they have the DNA,” Bastian continued. “That’s very important. Not only for the connections in the squad but also for the players to feel ‘I’m a United player, I know what United means for me.’
“You know sometimes it takes time for a player from abroad, when they get into a club, to feel the DNA of a club. When I came to United, I could feel this DNA immediately; this love for the game, this love for playing for the club and to wear the emblem. I could feel that and I could even more feel that when I was talking to United supporters.”
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