Former Premier League midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin is back on the market just nine days after signing the dotted line on a two-year contract in Turkey.
The Manchester United flop – who made 47 appearances for the Red Devils during an ill-fated 18-month spell at Old Trafford – was released by Ligue 1 outfit Nice at the end of last season. His spell in free agency was a short one, however, after he agreed to join Super Lig side Konyaspor on August 1.
But the Anatolian Eagle confirmed on Thursday that the Frenchman’s contract had been terminated by mutual consent due to ‘family reasons’. It leaves the 33-year-old without employment once more as the European football calendar gets up and running, with no further explanation as to why his stay in central Turkey was so brief.
“Morgan Schneiderlin, whose transfer we recently, conveyed to our management that he wanted to leave due to family reasons,” read a club statement on Twitter. “As a result of the consultations and evaluations, our club approached Morgan Schneiderlin’s request positively and terminated his contract by mutual agreement.
Hopes were high for Schneiderlin at United, arriving in the same summer window that saw Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Matteo Darmian join the club.
However, his time at the Theatre of Dreams was far from the fairytale he might have envisioned, failing to impress en route to a fifth-place league finish in his first season at United. His prospects didn’t improve after Jose Mourinho took over in the summer of 2016, and he was sold to Premier League rivals Everton the following January.
While there might have been hope a return to his native France in 2020 would lead to a resurgence, the anchor’s time with Nice was also a forgettable one. Schneiderlin made 59 appearances for the Riviera outfit across a three-year stint and spent the second half of last season on loan with Australian outfit Western Sydney Warriors.
This summer has brought about more change following interest from Turkey, but his streak of misfortune has continued following Thursday’s announcement.
Neither the club nor player have offered any further information as to what has transpired to cause Konyaspor to terminate the player’s contract. What is usually a happy time in a player’s career has taken an unexpected twist following his sharp exit
As well as making 200 appearances in the Premier League, Schneiderlin has earned 15 caps for France following his debut in 2014. He was named in Didier Deschamps’ squad at Euro 2016 but failed to make an appearance at the competition.
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