Munich, July 13 (IANS) German giants Bayern Munich’s coach Pep Guardiola has said it was midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger’s decision to leave the football club and join English rivals Manchester United.

German international Schweinsteiger joined United on Sunday after spending 17 years at Bayern, rising through the youth ranks to become one of the best midfielders of his country, winning the World Cup last year.

Guardiola said it was an “honour” to manage the 30-year-old, after confirming his reasons for leaving and thanked him for his service to the Bundesliga champions.

He joined United for a fee of 15 million pounds ($23.2 million) after making 500 first-team appearances for the German club, scoring 67 times. Guardiola revealed the decision to leave was made by the midfielder.

“It was Bastian’s personal decision. He wants to have this experience. But many, many thanks to Basti,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk on Monday.

“It was a big honour for me to be his manager. We talked prior to the season and I said: “You decide, Basti”.”

Schweinsteiger explained his move on a video posted to his Facebook account, saying he wanted to gain experience with a new club.