Manchester United signing Bastian Schweinsteiger - the man they call 'Football God' - makes sense for everyone, except Bayern Munich fans 

• Bastian Schweinsteiger has join Manchester United on a three-year deal
• Germany star will bring quality and experience to United midfield
• Bayern Munich have a ready-made replacement in Thiago Alcantara 
• The 30-year-old Schweinsteiger has seen a drop in fitness in recent years
• But Bayern fans booed the decision to let their talisman leave the club 

By Kit Holden for MailOnline

Published: 06:48 EST, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 02:09 EST, 14 July 2015

It is the transfer the fans never thought could happen. Bastian Schweinsteiger, the man who has been at the club for 17 years, played in more than 500 competitive games and won 20 trophies, will no longer wear the red of Bayern Munich.

Schweinsteiger's transfer to Manchester United was officially announced by Bayern's chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at the official team presentation on Saturday. 

It was supposed to be a celebration of the start of the new season. But the huge PR event in Bayern's Allianz Arena turned sour. Rummenigge's words were greeted with boos and whistles.

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola is being blamed by fans for letting Bastian Schweinsteiger to leave the club

The Bayern CEO was booed by supporters when he announced the departure of the man they call Football God

Those whistles were not directed at Schweinsteiger. The fans were, after all, waving a banner reading 'Servus, Fußballgott'. Goodbye, Football God. 

Schweinsteiger later responded in kind, posting a heartfelt farewell video on his social media pages. 'You will always have a place in my heart,' he told the Bayern faithful.

The fans will forgive their God. The boos on Saturday, though, were evidence that it will take them much longer to forgive the Bayern hierarchy for letting Schweinsteiger go.

Most of the blame has been directed at Guardiola. Many Bayern fans feel their hero has been underrated by a Catalan coach with a love for Spanish midfielders. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger in emotive promo as he leaves Munich

Schweinsteiger is enormously popular with Bayern fans, who are furious that he has been allowed to go

The midfielder played a deep central midfield role last season, as his average position and action areas show

They all know there is truth in what Bayern's former director of sport Christian Nerlinger said this week: 'If Guardiola had wanted Schweinsteiger to stay, then he could have vetoed the transfer.'

Leave the emotions out of it, however, and this is a deal which makes cold, footballing sense for all concerned. 

Schweinsteiger is 30. He has been plagued by injuries for several years. He played in only 20 of Bayern's 34 league games last season – his heroic performance in the World Cup final meaning he missed most of the start of the season.

On top of that, Bayern already have a ready-made, integrated heir to the football God's throne. 

Franck Ribery: Bayern team sad to see Schweinsteiger leave

Schweinsteiger began his career with Bayern and has spent 17 years with the club, making 500 appearances

He will bring the experience of a World Cup winner and an international superstar to Manchester United

Thiago Alcantara has been at Bayern for two years. Towards the end of last season, he began to show the brilliance which made Guardiola demand Bayern buy him in 2013. 

Bayern's midfield will, by all accounts, be built around Thiago from now on.

Manchester United, meanwhile, will have far greater use for Schweinsteiger's abilities. If he stays fit, Schweinsteiger still has two or three years of brilliance ahead of him. 

His genius lies not only in the tireless work rate he displayed in Rio de Janeiro, but also in his role as a centrifugal force in midfield. 

His 32 tackles in the league last season may not seem very much, for example. But the statistic belies the fact that it is Schweinsteiger's impeccable positioning, not his fearsome tackling, which makes him so valuable.

Most important in this whole saga is Louis van Gaal. It was Van Gaal who made Schweinsteiger a giant in Munich. It was he who had the foresight to switch him from the wing into central midfield. 

It was under Van Gaal's guidance that Schweinsteiger went from the cheeky chappy with extravagant hair known as Schweini, to the imperious leader known as Football God. 

It was under Van Gaal's guidance that Schweinsteiger went from cheeky chappy to Football God

Schweinsteiger would not have left Bayern unless he knew he would be a regular and a leader at another club. Few but Van Gaal could have guaranteed him that. 

Likewise, Van Gaal would not have signed his one time protege without a plan. A plan to make sure his tired legs don't give up under the pace of the Premier League. 

That plan may involve a more rooted position in the centre than Guardiola's insistence on fluidity have allowed in recent times.

According to certain reports in Germany, it was pressure from new girlfriend Ana Ivanovic which persuaded Schweinsteiger to move to England. 

Thiago Alcantara, who scored against Porto last season, is seen as a ready-made replacement at Bayern

Thiago may be a talent, but there is a feeling among fans that Schweinsteiger is in Bayern's DNA

Unlikely. This transfer is a footballing one through and through. It makes sense for Schweinsteiger, who will gain a new experience and more game time. It makes sense for United, who will receive a heavily decorated midfield leader. It makes sense for Bayern, who know that this is the best time to crown Thiago as their new midfield king.

That will be of little consolation to the Bayern faithful. In recent years, only Steven Gerrard has been more important to his club's fans than Schweinsteiger. 

Like Gerrard, Schweinsteiger is in Bayern's DNA, and vice versa. The stabbing pain of his departure will linger in Bayern fans' hearts for a long time yet. 

It will be there if he returns to face them in the Champions League next season. It will remain there long after Schweinsteiger has inevitably endeared himself to a different set of supporters, and made his name in the Theatre of Dreams.

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