Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has been tipped to make his long awaited first appearance of the season when West Ham return to Old Trafford in midweek for the EFL Cup quarter final as injuries and suspensions limit manager Jose Mourinho's options.
Schweinsteiger was quickly frozen out by Mourinho in summer and was told in no uncertain terms that his future lies elsewhere - the club even wrote off the £6.5m transfer fee as a loss in their 2015/16 season financial report.
But the German World Cup winner returned to first-team training last month to help make up the session numbers and was even among the substitutes on Sunday when West Ham were the visitors to Old Trafford for the Premier League clash between the two.
Schweinsteiger, who is believed to have rejected a move to Sporting CP in summer and is rumoured to be of interest to MLS franchiseChicago Fire in 2017, didn't make it off the bench at the weekend, but there is now a very real possibility that Mourinho will have little choice but to call on him come Wednesday.
Training! #mufc pic.twitter.com/FXQGzRnePB
Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini are both carrying one-game suspensions that will rule them out of contention, while Morgan Schneiderlin seems surprisingly further away from first-team action than even Schweinsteiger does.
It leaves Michael Carrick, who the Daily Mirror believes is carrying a knock, and Ander Herrera as the only other central midfield options.
Mourinho, who could be absent himself after his latest touchline misdemeanour, could pull Wayne Rooney back into midfield, but the most logical and simplest solution is to swallow his pride and opt for Schweinsteiger instead.
Throughout his exile the 32-year-old continued to publicly support his team-mates from afar on social media, while he stated very clearly in August that he would consider the chance to play for the club again to be an 'absolute dream'.
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