Football
Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC 7y

Bastian Schweinsteiger valued at £4.8m in Man United financial results

Bastian Schweinsteiger's return to Jose Mourinho's first-team squad at Manchester United has now been confirmed on the club's balance sheet, with the former Germany captain reinstated as an "exceptional" item at a cost of £4.8 million, it has been announced.

United revealed their second quarter financial results on Thursday and Schweinsteiger, who was written off as a £6.7m asset in the autumn, has now been restored with a value of £4.8m.

Mourinho had insisted at the start of the season that Schweinsteiger, a £6.7m signing from Bayern Munich in July 2015, had no future at Old Trafford.

The 32-year-old was told he was free to find another club, but despite interest from the MLS, China and Italy, Schweinsteiger opted to stay at United and fight for his place, at the same time as training away from the first team with the club's youngsters.

Mourinho surprisingly recalled the player to his squad in November, however, and handed him a substitute appearances against West Ham in the EFL Cup on Nov. 30.

Schweinsteiger has since made two further appearances, scoring in the 4-0 FA Cup win at home to Wigan last month, and has been named in United's Europa League squad for the second half of the campaign.

And although he is expected to be made available for transfer once again this summer, when he will have one year remaining on his contract, Schweinsteiger's professionalism has been rewarded by Mourinho, with a statement within Thursday's accounts confirming his status as a first-team player.

The statement said: "An exceptional credit for the quarter was £4.8 million, relating to a reversal of a registrations' impairment charge for a player now considered to be re-established as a member of the first team playing squad."

United's quarterly accounts also revealed a 27 percent growth in the club's debt to £409.3m -- a climb attributed to the Brexit vote and subsequent fall in valuation of the pound.

Television revenue for the second quarter grew by 40 percent, with revenues up 18 percent year on year.

In a statement, United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: "We are pleased to be competing for the first available trophy of the season when we travel to Wembley to face Southampton in the EFL Cup final this month.

"The robustness of our business model continues to be reflected in our strong quarterly financial results and we remain on track to deliver record revenues for the year.

"Finally, I'd like to congratulate Wayne Rooney on becoming Manchester United's all-time record goal scorer -- achieving the remarkable feat of scoring 250 goals over the last 13 seasons, surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton's record which has stood for 44 years."

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