Ruud van Nistelrooy has opened up about the pain of his departure from Manchester United, expressing his deep disappointment at not being retained by the club. As he steps into his new role as Leicester City manager, the Dutch icon reflected on his Old Trafford exit, revealing his initial hopes to remain part of the team under new boss Ruben Amorim.
Van Nistelrooy shared: "The moment I took over the interim job, I said: ‘I’m here to help United and to stay to help United,’ and I meant it.
"So I was disappointed, yeah, very much so, and it hurt I had to leave.
"The only job I would take as an assistant was at United because of the bond that I have with the people in the club and the fans.
"But in the end, I got my head around it because I also understand the new manager.
"I spoke to Ruben about it, and it was fair enough. I was grateful for the conversation.
"He spoke to me man to man, person to person, manager to manager, and that helped a lot to move on and straightaway get into talks with new possibilities, which, of course, lifted my spirits."
The 48-year-old acknowledged that his brief tenure at Old Trafford significantly boosted his career prospects, concluding, "What happened after that - the amount of interest that was there for me and the options that came along - I was astonished."
The former Netherlands star opened up about the curious attention he received, musing: "I thought: ‘It’s four games.’ I had a full season with PSV, I won the cup and Charity Shield did well with young PSV. I’d been coaching with the national team and it never got this reaction from the football world. It provoked these reactions. I was only happy with that."
He reflected further on the events that led to his current role: "I was able to get into conversations that were good for me - and that brought me to Leicester."