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Over the recent weeks, United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy has been linked with a return to English football, with both newly promoted Leicester and recently relegated Burnley looking to the decorated goal scorer to manage the squads.
With Leicester’s boss, Enzo Maresca set to take the helm at Chelsea following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino, initially Leicester were looking to the Dutchman to lead the squad in their first season back in the Premier League.
Recently, Burnley turned to the 47-year-old to take the lead following Vincent Kompany’s move to Bayern Munich, with the club supposedly in advanced stages to secure van Nistelrooy’s signature as manager. Burnley’s owner Alan Page commented that he wanted a big name with star power at the helm and the veteran striker definitely fit this bill having a total of nine golden boot awards to his name, with a further four Supercup titles, two domestic cup titles and five league titles across his time at PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
The Dutchman’s return to England has previously been expressed, with a desire to manage in leagues that he’s previously played in, saying: “I would really like to work in Spain, and I have had conversations with Spanish clubs. But also the other leagues in which I have played, I want to coach there too. In the Premier League, and the Bundesliga.”
However now, it appears that the United legend’s return to the Premier League will be much closer to home for United fans.
Dutch publication AD have reported that Ruud van Nistelrooy is on the brink of returning to Old Trafford, with the former striker in talks with the Red Devils to become Erik ten Hag’s assistant manager.
Whilst van Nistelrooy has been linked to both Leicester and Burnley, as well as Club Brugge and several German and Spanish clubs to take on the role of manager, the Dutchman is excited by the challenge that the assistant manager role at United would offer.
According to the report, both van Nistelrooy and ten Hag are excited by the idea of the partnership, with negotiations on an extension for ten Hag expected to come this summer.
The Dutch partnership will be the next step in the ongoing project to rebuild United and get them back to their winning ways, in which van Nistelrooy was a vital part under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson.
