Ruud van Nistelrooy may be struggling at Leicester City right now but in his playing days, he was one of the best in the world.
The Leicester manager scored 150 goals in 219 games as a player for Manchester United and is hailed as one of the Premier League’s greatest players of all time.
For all of his success though, the Dutchman left Old Trafford under a cloud after a fallout with legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Although they are now on good terms and Van Nistelrooy is loved by United fans, retuning in the summer before Ruben Amorim decided to part ways with the 48-year-old, it took a huge move from Van Nistelrooy to clear the air.
Why did Ruud van Nistelrooy leave Man United as a player?
Van Nistelrooy was the main man at Old Trafford for many years, until Cristiano Ronaldo joined.
The two were chalk and cheese, often clashing, with one story claiming Van Nistelrooy made Ronaldo cry due to a harsh comment.
With Real Madrid interested, the forward signed a new contract before leaving to join Los Blancos for £35m in 2006.
In his 2013 autobiography, Ferguson claimed the Foxes boss was a “difficult boy” in his final year and left under a cloud afer falling out with the Scot.
It tainted his reputation somewhat and eventually, in 2010, Van Nistelrooy tried to make amends.
What did Ruud van Nistelrooy say to Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010?
On a random night in 2010, Van Nistelrooy sent a text to Ferguson, saying: “I don’t know whether you remember me. But I need to call you.”
Ferguson replied with a simple “ok” to which the Dutchman immediately rang through the phone and stated: “I want to apologise for my behaviour in my last year at United.”
“Mulling over Ruud’s call to me, that winter night, I knew that two or three Premier League clubs were looking at him, but couldn’t see that being a reason for him wanting to speak to me,” Ferguson wrote in the book.
“There would have been no need for him to repair his relationship with Manchester United in order for him to play for another club in England. Perhaps it was a guilt complex. It might have been playing on his mind for ages. Ruud was doubtless a more mature person by that stage.”