LONDON: Former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has criticised his successor Jose Mourinho for meting out poor treatment to Germany international Bastian Schweinsteiger during their time together at the club.
"Schweinsteiger was older, of course, but not too old," Van Gaal told Sport Bild on Tuesday.
"Still, his body was not able to keep up with the high demands of Premier League.
"Bayern sold him to us as a fit player, but, in reality, physically he had reached the end.
"How Mourinho treated him after me, Schweini did not deserve this. But it also explains how things were with Schweinsteiger. It's a shame because he is a player like Luis Enrique, Mark van Bommel or Philipp Lahm, a character always present on the pitch," the Dutch coach added.
Schweinsteiger, a World Cup winner with Germany in 2014, was roped in from Bayern Munich by Van Gaal in 2015.
After Van Gaal left United, Schweinsteiger was frozen out and made to train with the reserves by Mourinho who took over the reins.
He returned to the first-team squad to make three substitute appearances before leaving for Chicago Fire.
Van Gaal, who helped United win the FA Cup in his final match in charge, said things could have been different had he managed to sign two other players from the Bundesliga -- Mats Hummels and Thomas Muller.
He said: "I wanted to sign Hummels for Manchester United. But because at that time he was coming out of a poorer season, we didn't do it in the end.
"I can confirm that I wanted Muller. But there was nothing we could do. FC Bayern made it clear that they would not sell him."