Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that the decision to include Bastian Schweinsteiger in the Red Devils' training was taken last Thursday and the same was communicated to the midfielder a day later.
The World Cup winner with Germany left Bayern Munich and made a switch to Old Trafford last summer. After struggling with injuries in his debut season the 32-year-old has not featured for the Premier League giants in all competitions this season.
It was earlier reported that Schweinsteiger was not allowed to train with the first team, something that changed when he was spotted in the training session on Monday. United have managed only one win in the league since the end of August, which came against Leicester City.
Mourinho and his men have travelled to Turkey as they take on Fenerbahce in the midweek Europa League clash. Schweinsteiger has not travelled with the squad as he is not included in the Europa League squad and the Portuguese tactician explained that he could another option in the midfield for the upcoming fixtures.
"It's a decision based on the fact that we are in a period of the season where it's really difficult to train with everyone together," Mourinho explained, as quoted by United's official website.
"At the moment, the day after we've played, the players train in a separate group – they do a specific recovery session. The group, instead of being 23 or 24, becomes 13 or 14, and then, with injuries, maybe 10 or 11.
"Many times, we go to the Academy to bring some young boys to have a group with the perfect numbers to train, match after match, week after week. Now, for example, on Friday, the players that play here [in Istanbul] are not going to train with the main group and this is the normal routine.
"Looking at Bastian and the way he was working professionally with the fitness coach, we think that it's a human decision, a professional decision, to bring him back to the team. He'll be much better prepared and in much better condition in case his future decision is to leave the club; he'll be much better prepared for competition if he stays with us.
"It becomes one more option. At the moment, we have no problems in midfield like we have in defence but, if we have problems in midfield, it's another option for us. It's a human decision based on the training numbers and methods, but also a decision that can be positive for the group. It's positive for us and for him."
