The former Bayern Munich, Germany and Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from football at the age of 35.
“Dear fans, the time has now come, and I will be finishing my active career at the end of this season,” he wrote in a post on social media on Tuesday. “I would like to thank both you, my teams FC Bayern, Manchester United, Chicago Fire and the German national team. You made this unbelievable time possible for me!
“And of course, I would like to thank my wife Ana Ivanovic and my family for their support. Saying goodbye as an active player makes me feel a little nostalgic, but I am also looking forward to the exciting challenges that await me soon. I will remain faithful to football.”
Schweinsteiger made the announcement after his current team, Chicago Fire, missed this season’s MLS playoffs. In club football, he is most well known for his time with Bayern, for whom he made 500 appearances and won eight Bundesliga titles as well as the Champions League in 2013. On the international stage, his 121 appearances make him Germany’s fourth-most capped player of all time. He won the World Cup with Germany in 2014.
In 2015, Schweinsteiger moved to the Premier League, becoming the first German to play in Manchester United’s first team. However, he never established himself at Old Trafford and had a fraught relationship when José Mourinho arrived to manage the club in 2016. Mourinho would later say he “regretted” the way he had treated Schweinsteiger, but the midfielder was allowed to leave United in March 2017 for Chicago Fire.
In his debut MLS season, Schweinsteiger helped the Fire to their first playoff appearance since 2012 and he was named the club’s player of the season in 2018. However, the team has struggled in the last two seasons and, despite a 5-2 over Orlando City in Schweinsteiger’s final ever match, they missed the postseason once again in 2019.
