Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has praised the professionalism of Bastian Schweinsteiger after revealing that he regrets how he handled his time at Old Trafford.

At the start of the season, Mourinho told the midfielder that he did not feature in his plans for the upcoming campaign and the German only featured in four cup games before being allowed to leave for Chicago Fire earlier this month.

Mourinho has indicated that he wished he had used the 32-year-old more often, but he revealed that he had spoken with Schweinsteiger before he said his goodbyes to the club.

The 54-year-old told reporters: "He is in the category of players I feel sorry for something that I did to him.

"I don't want to speak about him as a player, I don't want to speak about him 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 with 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. So 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.

"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."

Schweinsteiger left the Premier League giants having made just 35 appearances since signing in July 2015.