In the 17th minute of yesterday's 2-2 draw with the Montreal Impact in the USL, former Manchester United player Schweinsteiger, who had just joined the Chicago Fire, broke the deadlock with a header and scored his maiden Major League Soccer goal.
As it stands, the former German captain has not had the best of times since joining Manchester United, but he can still shine in the USL.
The Daily Mail rounded up ten lost foreign players following his move to the United States, with four Manchester United men making the list.
Visa (credit card)
The 1995 Ballon d'Or winner landed in the Premier League in 2000. But at the time, the 34-year-old did not show the strength to match his reputation. In his first half-season at Chelsea, he was still impressive, breaking down Tottenham Hotspur on his debut and helping Chelsea to a win. Despite this, Chelsea did not choose to keep him at the time and Vea joined Manchester City. He became City's top-paid player at £30,000 a week, but he soon came to blows with the then City manager and ended his Premier League career early. On leaving City, Weah angrily accused the City manager, "I didn't come here for the money. I could have stayed at AC Milan, but I chose to come to the Premier League. I didn't come here to be aggravated."
Ford Ray (name)
West Ham United's manager at the time, Harry Redknapp, said that after watching the Portuguese, who had played for Atletico Madrid, Marseille and AC Milan, train, he raved about how Forteuillet was in the top 10 of players he had ever seen. But the Portuguese refused to play until his No. 16 shirt was replaced with No. 10. He went on to make just nine appearances for the Hammers, becoming a passing fixture in the Premier League.
Gardel (name)
The talented Brazilian arrived at Bolton with the aura of a two-time European Golden Boot. He had a phenomenal 168 goals in 161 games at Porto. But his off-field indiscipline ruined his career, and Allardyce, who was Bolton manager at the time, even cleared the former Golden Boot for a lowly £1.5 million. Carlos once commented on Jardel: "Jardel was a great striker who always scored some incredible goals."
Morentes (name)
After leaving Real Madrid, Morientes reasserted himself at Monaco and took Monaco to the 2004 Champions League final. It was Morientes' goal that helped Monaco beat Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. Upon his return to Real Madrid, Morientes was again occupied by Owen. Six months later, Rafa Benitez brought Morientes to Liverpool for £6.3 million. But the Spanish striker was clearly not adapting to the Premier League, scoring just 12 goals in 18 months at Anfield. The talented striker's aura was no longer there, and Liverpool had to sell him to Valencia for a low price.
Di Maria (name)
Di Maria's performance in the Champions League final certainly warranted a hefty offer, but Di Maria's £59.7 million price tag still exceeded expectations. Van Gaal, the United manager at the time, praised the player as "a world-class midfielder and a team player". United even designed a T-shirt with the letter "R" for the Premier League winner. However, the Argentinian's time at United has been rather uneventful. In his first four games, he picked up two goals and two assists, but after October, his game statistics started to plummet. In the FA Cup quarter-final, United played Arsenal and Di Maria received a red card at home. The following summer, he traveled away to join Paris Saint-Germain.
Robinho (name)
In the summer of 2008, Robinho moved from Real Madrid to Manchester City for a whopping £32.5 million. The price made him the Premier League's top bidder at the time. The Brazilian was also the first big name signed by Mansour since he joined City. In his first season after landing in the Premier League, Robinho delivered 14 goals in 31 league games, finishing in the top four of the top scorers list. However, he gradually lost his starting position in the following seasons due to injuries and competition. With the arrival of Roberto Mancini, Robinho went on loan to Santos in January 2010 and was bought out by AC Milan in the summer.
Schweinsteiger
Schweinsteiger never showed at Old Trafford what he did at Bayern. He was brought to the Theater of Dreams by Van Gaal in 2015, but made just 35 appearances for United before officially joining Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire. And after Mourinho took over the Red Devils, he completely dropped the German, even only letting him train with the youth team. Despite an extremely poor United career, Piggy was still very grateful to the United fans, calling them "a special part of my career at United". Unfortunately, he didn't show much in the Premier League.
Perón
Manchester United and Chelsea paid £28.1 million and £15 million respectively for Perón, but after landing in the Premier League in 2001, Perón never showed his Serie A prowess. Sir Alex Ferguson once called Perón a "hopeless idiot" and a "bullshit great player". At Manchester United he was extremely inconsistent, and at Chelsea he went quiet again after making his debut, eventually making only 15 appearances for the Blues. The poor performances at United and Chelsea overshadowed his greatness in leading Lazio to the Serie A title.
Falcao (name)
Falcao's Premier League journey can only be summed up with four goals at Manchester United and one at Chelsea. The striker's performances at Porto and Atletico Madrid left defenders in the dust, but after a serious injury, his self-confidence dropped severely and he fell into a slump in the Premier League. But this season at Monaco, Falcao has been reborn. He proved himself against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, but unfortunately it was too little too late for United.
Shevchenko (name)
When Shevchenko arrived at Stamford Bridge for £30.8m in 2006, Mourinho claimed, "Today, a dream come true." But the 2004 Ballon d'Or winner left AC Milan to find the Premier League a nightmare. Chelsea fans couldn't have welcomed the arrival of the brilliant, all-round goalscorer with pace and power. However, Sheva's performances were really unsatisfactory. After scoring just nine goals for Chelsea in the league, worth an average of £3.4 million per goal, he returned to AC Milan on loan for the 08/09 season, but was no longer a key player for the Red and Blacks, and in the summer of 2009, the 'Bullet' returned to his parent club, Dynamo Kiev.
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