Bastian Schweinsteiger almost played for Bayern Munich's basketball team

Bayern Munich basketball coach Dirk Bauermann has revealed that football superstar Bastian Schweinsteiger nearly played for his team last season.

In his soon-to-be-published autobiography, the former Germany national basketball team trainer  explained that the footballer was considered as an option for his club in their quest to gain promotion to the Basketball-Bundesliga.

"Seven games before the end of the season, in March 2011, we secured promotion to the Basketball-Bundesliga. With five games remaining, the championship," Bauermann wrote in an excerpt released to Bild. "Actually, Bastian Schweinsteiger could have played for us at the time.

"It would have been great fun. But above all, it shows how Bayern tick: after only a few months there is a close relationship between the footballers and basketballers."

However, Schweinsteiger's professional basketball debut was cancelled due to concerns that he might be injured.

"A decision of common sense. Just imagine if he had been knocked down or injured himself. Who knows if his opponent wanted to make a particularly hard screen. There were just too many unpredictable risks."

Schweinsteiger instead continued to exclusively play football and helped his team overcome Hannover to secure a third-placed finish in the Bundesliga, and with it a Champions League berth.