What happened to legendary Man United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy?

Ruud van Nistelrooy is considered to be one of the most efficient strikers from the early 2000s era, leaving an incredible legacy behind in teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United. The Dutch striker always had his eyes on his opponent's goal, making him one of Europe's most notorious goal-scoring threats.  To this day, he is still considered one of the best strikers to ever play the game. Let's take a look at his remarkable career!

Born in Oss, North Brabant on July 1st, 1972, Van Nistelrooy developed his love for the sport at a very young age. He started his big leap into professional football after he joined Den Bosch in 1993. He joined the Eerste Divisie team when he was just 17 years old.

According to The Sun, Van Nistelrooy started as a central midfielder due to his great technical ability on the ball. Nevertheless, during his early years in professional football, he was converted to a center-forward.

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After the 1996-97 season, the young Dutch striker was transferred over to Heerenveen for a transfer fee of €1.58 million ($1.68m, £1.35m), according to Transfermarkt. He wouldn't last long with the club, as his strong performances generated interest amongst big European teams.

Van Nistelrooy sealed a big move over to PSV Eindhoven. According to Transfermarkt, his transfer fee was fixed at €7 million ($7.45m, £5.98m), but little did the Dutch team know how much he would be worth after the end of the season...

After scoring 31 goals in 34 matches, he became the highest season goalscorer in the Eredivisie. He scored a series of important goals for the Dutch team in the Champions League, becoming a pivotal player.

That same year, Van Nistelrooy was chosen as the Dutch Player of the Year following his remarkable rookie season with PSV Eindhoven.

After his second season with PSV Eindhoven, he received a call from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, who was very interested in singing the young forward.

According to The Daily Telegraph, it was Sir Alex Fergusons son that informed the Manchester United coach of Van Nistelrooy. His son was finalizing tryouts for Heerenveen at the time and allegedly begged his father to sign the young Dutch striker. "You've got to sign Van Nisterlrooy right away, he's fantastic. We've been watching him," said Darren Ferguson. Manchester United went straight for it and signed Van Nistelrooy the next day.

Sir Alex Ferguson tried to bring him over in the summer of 2000, but due to a medical issue, the transfer was refused. According to Transfermarkt, Manchester United sealed the deal in 2001 for €28,5 million ($30.3m,£ 24.3m), securing the services of the Dutch striker. It was a club-record transfer deal.

According to The Daily Telegraph, when reporters asked about his record transfer fee, he responded: "The price is not heavy for me, it lifts me because it means United has big confidence in me." He would go on to make his debut against Liverpool, scoring in their 2-1 loss.

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During his first season in the Premier League, he scored a total of 25 goals in 34 games, impressive numbers for a new arrival. He snatched the Golden Boot from Thierry Henry by just one goal.

During the 2005/06 season, Ruud was well into his fifth year at Manchester United. Goals kept coming, but the 'Red Devils' were in a transition, with a new generation of players, like Cristiano Ronaldo, asking for more playing time. Van Nistelrooy was bumping heads with Sir Alex Ferguson, but more importantly with Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to The Guardian, Van Nistelrooy sparked a fight with Ronaldo, criticizing his tendency to hold onto the ball instead of passing it around to his teammates. After a verbal argument, which caused Ronaldo to break into tears, the Dutch forward was forced to apologize and sit on the bench for a series of games.

Van Nistelrooy then signed for Real Madrid with hopes of having a fresh start. After five years at Old Trafford, the Dutch forward scored a total of 150 goals in 219 games played, according to Transfermarkt.

Real Madrid came knocking on his door in 2006 and managed to secure a €15 million ($15.9m, £12.8m) transfer deal for the veteran forward, according to Transfermarkt. He was welcomed with open arms at the Santiago Bernabeu, and it didn't take long for the goals to start pouring through. Van Nistelrooy scored a hat-trick in his second league match ever in La Liga.

That same season, Van Nistelrooy would be the league's top goal scorer with 25 goals, and Real Madrid would secure their 2006/07 league title.

Due to recurring injuries with his knee and ankle, Real Madrid had to sit him out for the entire 2008/09 season, even forfeiting his number to Dani Parejo. His role in the Spanish club would change due to the arrival of big stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kaka. Nevertheless, he won two big leagues for Real Madrid, forever going down in the club's history. He scored 64 goals in 96 games.

After departing the Bernabeu as a free agent, Van Nistelrooy signed an 18-month contract with Hamburger SV. Recurring injuries kept the Dutch forward out of the pitch for a long period, but he still managed to secure 7 goals and 2 assists in 25 appearances.

The Dutch forward would return to Spain for one last dance with Malaga CF. He joined the southern Spanish club in 2012/13 and was welcomed like a hero. He managed to score 5 goals in 32 games. Nevertheless, he would officially retire after the 2012/13 season, at age 35.

Van Nistelrooy was also an important player for the Dutch national team. He was called up to join the main national squad in 1998 until 2007. He managed to score 35 goals in 70 games (Transfermarkt).

The former Dutch striker returned to the pitch as a coach, taking over the PSV under-17s squad in 2013. Fast forward ten years, he was called up to coach the PSV first team in 2022, replacing Roger Schmidt. He later resigned as coach citing the lack of support.

He will always be regarded as a world-class player who went down as one of the most prolific goal scores in three major European Leagues. Let us know what you think in the comments!

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