Ruud van NistelrooyLeicester’s new manager, expressed regret for his farewell to Manchester United during his first conference as Foxex manager: “The moment I accepted the interim role, I made clear my intention to stay to help United , and I really meant it. So I was disappointed, very disappointed, about what happened next. It hurt to have to leave.”
Expanding on the matter, van Nistelrooy said: “In the end I also learned something because I understand the new manager. I’ve been in football long enough and these things happen. I talked to Ruben about it, he was quite honest with me, the conversation was sincere, man to man, person to person, manager to manager. This helped me a lot to move forward and get into negotiations straight away and explore new possibilities, which obviously boosted my morale.”
On his ability to revive a team struggling from relegation he said: “I think I have to go back to my first three years as a player in the Dutch second division league… a lot of people forget about that,” he said. “They see ‘Real Madrid, Manchester United’ on my CV, but my first three seasons in the Dutch second division were with a club called FC Den Bosch, and my first professional season when I was 18 we were 18th out of 18 in the table So I know what it means to fight.”