Jose Mourinho has claimed he is surprised that Bayern Munich did not "run to Manchester" to take Bastian Schweinsteiger back to Germany.
The Manchester United boss has made it clear that the former Germany international is not in his plans after phasing him out of the first team at Old Trafford.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claimed this month that United's treatment of Schweinsteiger could put off other players from joining the club in future.
And Mourinho, who says it will be "very difficult" for the 32-year-old to play if he stays at Old Trafford, has taken aim at the Bundesliga champions for the comments.
"I read some quotes from people at Bayern and thought they would run to Manchester to bring him back, but no," he said on Friday ahead of Saturday's trip to Hull City. "I'm quite surprised Mr Rummenigge is not here now to take him back."
Mourinho admits that Schweinsteiger, who stated this week that he will not leave United for another club in Europe, will struggle to force his way back into the side despite the fixture congestion brought about by the Europa League group stage, which starts next month.
"I have 23 players in the squad. In principle, nobody is leaving because I don't want anyone to leave. Twenty-three players is more than enough," Mourinho said.
"If we have any kind of opportunity, I have a few young players in the academy and I'll be more than happy to give them an acceleration in their process and bring them up. It will be nice to have a week not surrounded by helicopters, waiting for somebody to arrive.
"I think it's very difficult [for Schweinsteiger]. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's very difficult. We have a decision made about [Paul] Pogba, [Ander] Herrera, [Morgan] Schneiderlin, [Marouane] Fellaini, Michael Carrick. we have five players for two positions. It's very, very difficult that an opportunity will arrive.
"I cannot answer for him. It's his life, his career. He has a contract, he has a right to make a decision and stay. It's not a problem for us. But football is made of decisions. I've done that all my career, not just me, everyone does it.
"Some players react in a different way. To be honest, Bastian is not speaking a lot. He gave his last statement which he's completely free to do in an objective and polite way, as he did. No problems at all.
"I love Andreas Pereira, I'd love to have him in my squad but he's going to Granada to play. I like Cameron Borthwick-Jackson a lot but he's going to Wolves to play. These are the kind of decisions every club does."
