This is a terrific signing. Teams have to be a blend of ingredient and one of those is a winning mentality, another is experience. De gea, shaw, Smalling, jones, darmian, blind, Herrera, Januzaj, Depay, Wilson are all between 20-26. Di Maria, Fellaini and Mata are 27, and even Rooney is 'only' 29. We have a VERY young squad for such a big team. The only over 30 player competing for a starting spot is Carrick, and perhaps Valdes next season.
We've parted with the likes of Evra, Ferdinand, vidic, fletcher, Van persie and Giggs in the last couple of seasons. That's a hell of a lot of experience to lose. So I'm all for this signing. Bastian is still a top tier player with a ton to offer. He knows Van Gaal very well, still has that hunger, is familiar with the style and football we'll be trying to play and gives us a depth and variety we've been sorely lacking. The fee, 12m is nothing. And his wages are the least you'd expect for a player of his calibre.
Bayern fans are overwhelming sad and upset to lose him, and the board tried to keep him. I don't think anyone can argue this is a bad deal for us. I would still expect us to sign another CM, as it'll be important to use Schweinsteiger sensibly and not overplay him. Top clubs have that kind of depth.