Ruud van Nistelrooy wants to raid former club Manchester United to sign a ‘freakish’ star he sees as being a ‘key asset’ in Leicester avoiding relegation.
Van Nistelrooy only joined United as assistant manager in the summer was was let go following the arrival of Rube Amorim after a brief interim spell in charge.
The former striker beat Leicester twice while in charge of the Red Devils before being named the new Foxes manager, beating West Ham 3-1 in his first game in charge on Tuesday.
His side were under pressure for the majority of that game despite winning three points and Van Nistelrooy confirmed this week that he would have money to spend in January.
He added: “We had a conversation about that (transfers) in London before I signed. We spoke about that, the winter window, and also towards the summer.
“We also said that at the same time there’s no rush to do things. I agree with that. The squad is now getting opportunities to prove themselves over this month, which is a great month to work together and play together. There’s time after that to make a good assessment when I’ve seen the players with my own eyes, and we can make decisions in January.”
READ MORE: Six Manchester United players Van Nistelrooy could sign for Leicester includes academy pair
The Sun claim he’s keen on United academy graduate Toby Collyer, who impressed Erik ten Hag enough with his “freakish running stats” in training to be given his senior debut in the Community Shield defeat to Manchester City in August.
Van Nistelrooy is ‘planning on using his contacts at Old Trafford’ to sign the 20-year-old midfielder, who joined the United academy from Brighton two years ago.
The United boss don’t want to sell Collyer but ‘could be open-minded to a loan move, especially to a manager who they know will give him opportunities in the first-team’.
Collyer also replaced Casemiro at half-time in United’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in September, and impressed some former Red Devils players working for MUTV.
Former defender David May commented: “There was a lot of pressure coming on for the young kid.
“For five or minutes maybe he was a bit in awe, I thought he conducted himself really well, I thought he was brilliant.”
Former academy defender Phil Bardsley was in agreement, adding: “Its not an easy fixture to come in, being 2-0 down, it shows the trust manager has in young players.
“He should be proud, coming into a hostile game, it was tough, he stood his own, he was good in there.
“Once he got a foothold in the game he didn’t look out of place. To get the experience to play in a game like this was fantastic.”