Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil has stressed that there is no point in taking Bastian Schweinsteiger to Euro 2016 if he is not fit.
The Germany captain has been battling with injuries which has seriously hampered his first season at Manchester United, and just when he was looking to be on his way back he suffered knee ligament damage in training with the national team last month.
He is not likely to play for Manchester United this season again, and though Joachim Low is desperate to take his captain to the European Championship in France this summer, there are no certainties that Schweinsteiger will recover in time.
And Arsenal playmaker Ozil insisted that there is no point in taking the midfielder to the tournament if he is not fit enough to get on the pitch for the world champions.
Ozil told German news agency SID: “Bastian Schweinsteiger is a footballer, not a mascot.
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“We do not need him as third assistant coach; we need him with his experience and game intelligence on the pitch.”
England took David Beckham to the 2010 World Cup as a mascot despite their former captain rupturing his Achilles tendon in March, which ruled him out of the tournament.
