Ruud van Nistelrooy ‘on the verge’ of making ’emotional return’ to Manchester United – reports

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is ‘on the verge’ of making an ’emotional return’ to the Old Trafford club this summer, according to reports. It is reported that Van Nistelrooy will join Erik ten Hag’s coaching set up at the club this summer.

Last week, the Dutchman was linked with the vacant Burnley management job and after being offered coaching roles at Club Brugge and clubs in Spain and Germany, the offer of a role at United seemed to be superior according to Dutch news outlet AD. What a homecoming it will be.

The 47-year-old, who turns 48 next week spent five years at United from 2001 until 2006 when he left for Real Madrid. The Dutchman was a prolific striker, scoring 150 goals for the club, assisting a further 30, playing 219 times for United. He has risen in stature as a coach over the years.

In 2013, van Nistelrooy started coaching the U17 side at Jong PSV and in 2016 became the striker coach for the U17, U19 and reserve teams. In 2014 he assisted Guus Hiddink for the Netherlands during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In 2019 he became the manager of PSV’s U19 side.

With coaching roles at PSV and the Netherlands under his belt, van Nistelrooy was approached once again to coach for his country ahead of Euro 2020, which was played in the summer of 2021. He was added to Ronald Koeman’s team as assistant manager along with Maarten Stekelenburg.

In March 2022, van Nisteltoory was named the PSV head coach at senior level, having worked in the youth set up and earned his stripes in the role – notably coaching for the Netherlands to gain more experience. The 47-year-old only held the role for just over a year resigning due to a lack of support.

During his management career at PSV, van Nistelrooy won the Johan Cruyff Shield in 2022 and the KNVB Cup during the 2022/23 season, also finishing second in the Eredivisie behind Feyenoord. It was an achievement for the Dutchman who could now make some major changes at United again.

It just shows that United have something in the bag. All summer, so-called journalists were predicting, with exclusive articles, that Ten Hag was to be sacked and linking some underwhelming names to the club. Now it seems United will continue with a Dutch revolution at the club.

Written by Paul