Chicago Fire midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has spoken of his decision to leave Manchester United last month.

Schweinsteiger believes things could have been different at Manchester United - if he had not been suspended midway through his first season at Old Trafford.

The German was handed a three-match retrospective ban by the FA after elbowing West Ham defender Winston Reid during a frustrating 0-0 draw in December, 2015.

"It was the right [move]," he told SPORT1.

"I always had the objective to win the Champions League with Bayern Munich and that is why I always stayed there and didn't move abroad.

"I achieved that in 2013 and that defined an era. The step to Manchester was definitely an important one. Louis van Gaal called me and he wanted to have success quickly. Of course things started very well for me. We were top of the league, level on points with Leicester.

"Then I got suspended and shortly after I was fouled and injured. We still won a title in the end -- the FA Cup -- and that's not something you just win by fluke."

And this season, Schweinsteiger admits he was surprised by how he was initially treated by Jose Mourinho.

"Of course that surprised me," he said.

"But I had always hoped that the situation would change and that I would play for United once again, and I also succeeded in doing that in the end."