Jose Mourinho apologises to Bastian Schweinsteiger for his treatment at Manchester United

Schweinsteiger joined MLS club Chicago Fire last week having made just four appearances for United all season.

The former Germany captain and World Cup winner failed to make a single Premier League appearance this campaign, while he was named on the bench just four times.

And having been made to train alone or with the Under-23 side on occasion, Mourinho admits he has regrets over how he dealt with the midfielder.

“I feel sorry for the first period with him, he knows that, I am happy that he knows, because I told him. I will miss a good guy, a good professional, a very good influence in training,” Mourinho told reporters on Friday.

“So I could not stop him to go, even though I know we have so many matches and probably would need him for a few matches or a few periods. But I had to let him go and now publicly wish him and his wife a very happy life in Chicago.

“He’s in the category of players that I feel sorry for something I did to him. I don’t want to speak about him as a player, as a player I would or would not buy. I want to speak about him as a professional, as a human being.

“It was the last thing I told him before he left - ‘I was not right with you once. I have to be right to you now.’ So when he was asking me to let him leave, I had to say yes, you can leave because I did it once, I cannot do it twice.”

Schweinsteiger remained the consummate professional during his time at United, and often drew sympathy from fans when posting messages on social media after being left out of the matchday squad.

Mourinho conceded that having a large amount of players meant that tough decisions had to be made, but admired the 32-year-old for accepting his tactical decisions.

“We had a huge squad in the beginning but after knowing him as a person and a professional and the way he was respecting my decisions as a manager,” Mourinho added.

“I regret it and it is no problem for me to admit it, because I have told him.”