Ruud van Nistelrooy admits the opportunity to return to Manchester United with Erik ten Hag was a complete surprise.
The Dutchman spent five years at Old Trafford during his illustrious playing career under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson before moving into coaching in recent years.
Van Nistelrooy, 48, spent over a year in charge of PSV Eindhoven before standing down from his role. He was expected to return to management in the summer and was the red-hot favourite to succeed Vincent Kompany at Burnley.
But he admits a phone call from Ten Hag changed everything as he shelved his previous plans to experience working at his former club as part of a new-look coaching team.
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“This is 100 per cent the right decision,” he told . “I felt a strong feeling that I want to help build United little by little back to where we feel and know where the club should be.”
He continued: “I was on a managerial track. I managed PSV, it was an unbelievable experience. I was in talks with clubs to manage and I love it [managing]. I had my staff all ready and then I had a phone call. I never even saw this as a possibility. Erik called me and talked it through. I started to love the idea.”
Van Nistelrooy has been working closely with Manchester United academy graduate Marcus Rashford since his arrival in a bid to get the forward firing again following a difficult 2023/24 campaign.
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His arrival coincided with Rene Hake as United sought to shake up their coaching team in the summer. Ten Hag's previous assistant, Mitchell van der Gaag, and Steve McClaren have since left their roles with the latter joining the Jamaica national team. And Ten Hag has been nothing but impressed with United's new recruits with the new season still in its infancy.
Reflecting on Van Nistelrooy and Hake recently, Ten Hag said of the duo: “They have done brilliant. They are doing very well, they’ve integrated very good. They are different. Ruud was a striker, Rene was more a midfielder defending.
“But more, their character is different and is very good. Together, with also Darren [Fletcher] and Andreas [Georgson, another summer arrival], I think we form a very good staff.”
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