Van Nistelrooy’s return to Man Utd could be final act of redemption after explosive exit and Sir Alex Ferguson fallout

RUUD VAN NISTELROOY could never have imagined he would get a second chance at helping to make Manchester United title winners again.

Not after the way he left the club where his incredible 150 goals in 219 games helped them to the 2002-03 Premier League title and 2003-04 FA Cup.

Getty

Getty

Oh, he also has a 2005-06 League Cup winners medal but will probably want to forget about that.

It was that occasion at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium when Man Utd beat Wigan 4-0 that led to the Dutchman’s untimely and messy exit.

Sir Alex Ferguson had decided to go with Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha upfront and after the final sub was used and Van Nistelrooy realised he was not getting on he released a volley of abuse at the boss.

Ferguson could not believe what was happening as he turned round on the bench to witness his star striker berating him.

It would be the end as Van Nistelrooy was sold to Real Madrid at the end of that season for £10.2million.

Now 18 years on Van Nistelrooy is back at Old Trafford trying to help the current strikers emulate his own goalscoring exploits.

The former PSV Eindhoven coach rejected overtures to be a number one again including one from Burnley.

Perhaps he saw the return to United as a final act of redemption after the way he departed.

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He felt there needed to be peace between himself and Sir Alex as his actions nagged away at him long after he left.

Then finally he plucked up the courage to address the situation.

Van Nistelrooy said: “My wife suggested I send Ferguson a text to see if he was willing to talk and when I sent him a message asking if I could ring him he replied to say: ‘OK, call me at this date and time.’

“I rang him and he answered and said: ‘OK, fine, go ahead.’ I said I wanted to apologise for what had happened.

“And he replied: ‘Fine, I appreciate that, when we meet again it will be OK.’ That was great to know.”

A very public show of acceptance that the hatchet had been buried came in November 2012 when Van Nistelrooy was invited as one of the main guests to witness Sir Alex unveil a statue of himself at Old Trafford.

The pair will meet again at the start of next season as Sir Alex continues to attend as many United games as he can.

He will be hoping to see a bit of the old Van Nistelrooy in the finishing of Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund as they both struggled in front of goal last season.

Then there is new striker Joshua Zirkzee too who can use the knowledge that brought Van Nistelrooy an incredible 349 goals in 592 club games through a career that spanned 19 years and took him to Madrid, Hamburg and finally Malaga after he had left United.

His scoring exploits at Real Madrid in particular suggested his departure from United had come far too soon.

He hit 25 goals in 37 La Liga games as they won the title in his very first season.

As for titles, United last won a title in Sir Alex’s final season 11 years ago.

They were further behind than ever last season as they finished in a Premier League record low position for the club of eighth.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's Man Utd career

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Man Utd career in numbers:

• Games: 219
• Goals: 150
• Assists: 30

Honours:

• Premier League
• FA Cup
• League Cup

Marcus Rashford’s 30 goals from the previous season reduced to eight, while Hojlund struggled in his first campaign at United following a £72million switch from Atalanta.

So can Van Nistelrooy, now 48, sprinkle the same magic on the Old Trafford surface as a coach like he did as a player?

They definitely think so at United.

Back-up goalkeeper Tom Heaton remembers Van Nistelrooy from his own first term at the club when he was in the reserves.

Heaton said: “He was the best that I’ve worked with.

“Now I think he can share his thoughts on how he did it and what he did, maybe some of his drills, I’m sure there’s some translation,

“I’m sure there’s something he can give.

“Whatever he did worked, he was that good at it. I’ve seen some brilliant finishers but I’ve not seen anyone better in my career.”

Having won the Dutch Cup in his one season in charge at PSV from 2022-23, he is more than just a coach for the forwards.

Indeed word is here in Los Angeles that he has been excellent with the defenders too, telling them what they can do best to combat the best finishers in the business and how the few who did were able to stop him.

This time the only shouting he will be doing from the bench will be in encouragement as the man he eventually made peace with watches down from the directors’ box.

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