The Germany captain has enjoyed a successful working relationship with Louis van Gaal before. If the pair hit if off again, Manchester United could finally have a midfielder worthy of replacing Roy Keane and Paul Scholes

A year ago, in the 124th minute of the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, Bastian Schweinsteiger hit the deck for the last time. By the time he dragged himself to his feet, he was a world champion. Mario Götze may have won the game with a flash of his left boot in extra time, but Schweinsteiger’s performance in the 114 minutes before the goal and the six minutes following it were just as important. Battered and bruised and barely able to stand, Schweinsteiger clung to his team-mates at the final whistle, the back of his No7 shirt stained with the grass of the Maracanã and the blood, sweat and now tears of a battle won.

Due to his near omnipresence in the recent history of Bayern Munich and Germany, Schweinsteiger’s move to Manchester United feels similar to Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard switching to MLS: a highly decorated club legend will now be playing out his final few seasons in different surroundings. The difference is that, at the age of 30, Schweinsteiger is considerably younger than his USA-bound contemporaries. Whoever else Louis van Gaal buys this summer, he may have just made his best signing of the season.

This transfer would have been more striking a couple of years ago but it remains a real coup for Manchester United. They have just plucked one of Bayern’s most iconic players from Munich while he still has a lot to offer. You have to wonder if Schweinsteiger would have been allowed to leave the club if a German was in charge, and not Pep Guardiola. That Schweinsteiger wanted to leave is a real testament to Van Gaal’s reputation. Would David Moyes have secured the deal? Probably not.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Louis van Gaal and Bastian Schweinsteiger at Bayern Munich in 2009. Photograph: Frank Leonhardt/EPA

Like all good players, Schweinsteiger has evolved over seasons, and under different managers. Just as Andrea Pirlo switched from attacking midfield to the regista role, and Franz Beckenbauer, also originally an attacking midfielder who dropped even further back to become a pioneer of the libero role, Schweinsteiger has developed his game. He played on the left wing when he first broke into the Bayern Munich and Germany teams. He loved to run at defenders and, being predominantly right-footed, often looked to cut inside and get off a shot – as he did to devastating effect against Portugal in the third-place playoff at the 2006 World Cup.

However, as the football public in England will be all-to-aware, Van Gaal does not accept the pre-defined positions for his players. And although his tweaking at Old Trafford hasn’t really paid dividends as yet, his work with Schweinsteiger, although simple, was staggeringly effective. When he joined Bayern Munich in 2009, Van Gaal spoke to each player individually about their role in the team, and for the Dutchman it what was clear to see that Schweinsteiger was not a left winger – despite having enjoyed success in the role for his club and country. Van Gaal convinced him to switch to a central position as part of the Doppelsechs on the side of enforcer, Mark van Bommel, where his intelligence and ability to read the game would be best exploited. Van Bommel provided the metal; Schweinsteiger brought the guile.

Schweinsteiger has come a long way since being part of the Schweini and Poldi double act at the 2006 World Cup with Lukas Podolski. The bleached blond, spiky hair has given way to a short crop that is now greying at the temples. And following the international retirement of Philipp Lahm, Schweinsteiger’s increasing importance to the national set-up peaked when Joachim Löw promoted him to captain.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski celebrate after winning the World Cup in 2014. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The departures of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes have left chasms in the Manchester United midfield and the failure to replace the pair has been lamented. Of course, you can never truly replace a player; that’s what makes players into legends. Generally, attempts to sign like-for-like successors end in failure. Manchester United may have enjoyed some early success with Javier Hernández as a relatively cheap signing who was effective coming off the bench – but in no way did he replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The key is to bring in players who can, at least, help to offset the loss of quality, influence and goals that a departed player has taken.

Schweinsteiger is neither the second coming of Roy Keane nor Paul Scholes. Nevertheless, he possesses qualities that may finally offset the loss of both. With increased responsibility for both club and country has come a greater physical presence on the pitch, a steeliness. The time of the enforcer has arguably gone, but Manchester United now have a player in the centre of the park who can make a tackle. Better still, he is able to recycle possession by quickly shifting the ball on to team-mates, which may add some impetus to United’s static play last season.

Beyond that, Schweinsteiger has won multiple Bundesliga titles and domestic cups, the Champions League, World Cup and other honours in a 17-year career. Regardless of how effective Michael Carrick can be, and to what extent Ander Herrera has grown into his role at the club, having a player of Schweinsteiger’s stature in the team will have a psychological effect on his team-mates and the opposition – perhaps it is in this respect that Schweinsteiger will most compensate for the loss of Scholes and Keane.

Like the United legends, Schweinsteiger has overcome disappointment, such as missing a penalty in the 2012 Champions League final against Chelsea, and he is a winner. You don’t accumulate over 100 caps for Germany and rack up 500 performances for Bayern Munich unless you are a special player. His record will afford him respect among his peers and some bedding-in time with the fans.

His longevity should not be confused with antiquity. He is a similar age to Michael Ballack when he signed for Chelsea as the Germany captain, and he is younger than Andrea Pirlo when the Italian maestro revitalised his career at Juventus after being shown the door at Milan. Schweinsteiger is perfectly placed to become a linchpin in Van Gaal’s reshaping of Manchester United, a Mercedes Benz in the engine room.

Players will often cite the need for a new challenge when moving on, particularly when they have become so ingrained in a club’s fabric, as Schweinsteiger is with Bayern Munich. And while this is often empty rhetoric, in Schweinsteiger’s case the desire for a new challenge seems to have forced his hand. It would have been easy to see out the last year of his contract at Bayern and then see what happened.

He would have remained an important player and would have been almost guaranteed success, domestically at least. As captain of the national team, he would have been training and playing with many of his team-mates on a daily basis. But he seems genuinely excited to be making a new start. The Schweinsteiger story has already seen challenges and disappointment, and as he switches to Old Trafford, this looks very much like a new chapter rather than just an epilogue.

• This article first appeared on Englische Woche

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