Per Mertesacker has taken some time out from speaking about his own future to discuss that of his countryman, Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Schweinsteiger has been axed by Jose Mourinh,o who showed the player absolutely no respect by allegedly insisting that he trains with the reserves (with young players who’d probably learn far more from playing beside Schweinsteiger than Mourinho, so there’s that).

Moving to United in 2014, his contract runs for another two years leaving him in an ‘unlucky’ and ‘perverse’ situation according to the Arsenal captain who was speaking to Kicker in his homeland.

 “It’s bad luck for him that he joined a club that has again changed its manager, and that the new manager doesn’t want him,” Per said.

“It can happen to you at any time in this business, and it’s a bit perverse, but Basti signed a good contract, and he knew where he was going.

“He just had bad luck with the way it worked out. He will draw his conclusions and I wish him all the best.”

Mertesacker’s own future is still far from clear.

Out of contract next summer, he has already attracted the attentions of Hannover and Werder Bremen, the latter admitting they used the Serge Gnabry negotiations to chat with Per about a possible move back to Germany.