Ruud van Nistelrooy has singled out Jamie Vardy as the one player that he is most looking forward to working with after he was appointed as the new Leicester City manager. The Foxes confirmed the appointment of the Manchester United legend on Friday following the sacking of Steve Cooper.
Van Nistelrooy, 48, beat Leicester TWICE - 3-0 in the Premier League and 5-2 in the Carabao Cup - during his short time as United interim head coach. The Dutchman won three of his four matches in charge before he left the club earlier this month, with Ruben Amorim getting the job on a full-time basis.
However, Van Nistelrooy hasn't spent long out of work and the Foxes called on the former PSV boss as their replacement for Cooper, who was dismissed on Sunday after the 2-1 defeat against Chelsea.
In his first interview after being appointed, Van Nistelrooy expressed his excitement at taking over at the Foxes and hailed Vardy, who has four goals in 11 matches this season, as someone he "can't wait" to work with.
"I think the depth of the squad is very good as well," Van Nistelrooy said. "There are two players in every position of good quality. There’s young, emerging talents, with very experienced players and, obviously, the captain, Jamie Vardy, has the most experience and the character. He’s the face of the Football Club. As a former striker, I can’t wait to work together with him as well."
Vardy and Van Nistelrooy have history. In fact, when Vardy broke the record for scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League matches in November 2015, he overtook Van Nistelrooy to achieve that feat. In a message on Instagram to Vardy at the time, Van Nistelrooy said: "Well done vardy7! You're number one now and you deserved it. #11inarow."
As well as praising Vardy and the Leicester squad, Van Nistelrooy also revealed that he spoke to former Leicester boss Enzo Maresca before taking the job. He said: "I have to say, when the interest came, the first one I called was Enzo. He was so positive about it. He absolutely loved his time.
"When you hear these things, it’s a club you want to be a part of. Obviously, with the interest coming, I phoned him and I asked him more detailed questions about the Club, the structures, the people that work there, the squad, the stadium, the fans, the town, the surroundings… it was a fantastic conversation. It’s always a pleasure to talk to him."
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