Ruud van Nistelrooy won’t be heading to Manchester United as Erik ten Hag’s assistant.
PSV Eindhoven have announced the legendary Dutch striker will be their manager for the 2022/23 campaign, with a contract until 2025.
Van Nistelrooy will replace Roger Schmidt, who Football Orange reported in February had decided to stand down in the summer. In the meantime his side are just two points behind Ajax and hope to overtake them to win the league.
Van Nistelrooy has worked his way up the coaching ranks at PSV, with their youth teams and as assistant boss, and has also worked as Netherlands assistant manager.
The job will be Van Nistelrooy’s first as a senior coach and he admitted he needed to be talked into it a little, unsure if he was quite ready.
He was quoted by BBC Sport: “I’ve worked intensively with Toon Gerbrands, PSV’s current general manager, the past few seasons. I was convinced I could pursue a professional coaching career and originally thought I needed one more year to gain experience.
“But sometimes things do go their way and you find out that life is not completely manageable. This is the right moment to take the next step. PSV are ready to embark on a new path this summer and I am ready to play my part.”
Van Nistelrooy’s name had cropped up in connection with United over the last week amid the Erik ten Hag speculation.
The Times claimed it was ‘likely’ Ten Hag would look to bring in a Dutch coach with ‘connections to United’.
This saw Van Nistelrooy touted as a possible option, while other names include Robin van Persie, Jaap Stam, or Rene Meulensteen.
Ten Hag is considered to be the favourite to be offered the United job after undergoing an interview last week, The Telegraph reports.
First he has a title battle with PSV to try and win, and Ajax also face the same side in the upcoming KNVB Cup Final.
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