Ruud van Nistelrooy says it hurt to leave Manchester United in November after an interim period in charge of the side.
The 48-year-old, who replaced Steve Cooper as Leicester City manager last week, left Old Trafford last month after the appointment of Ruben Amorim.
The Dutchman, who scored 150 goals in five years as a United player, returned as part of Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff in July, before taking charge of four games as interim manager.
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When asked about his United departure at his first press conference as Leicester manager, Van Nistelrooy said on Monday: “The moment I took over the interim job what I said was, ‘I’m here to help United and to stay to help United’, and I meant it. So yeah, I was disappointed. Very much so. It hurt that I had to leave.
“The only job I would take as an assistant was at United because of the bond that I have with the people in the club and the fans. But in the end, I got my head around it because I also understood the new manager. I’ve been in in football long enough, and I’ve managed myself, that you can think of a situation, me being there. I understand.
“I spoke to Ruben (Amorim) about it, fair enough to him, the conversation was grateful, man to man, person to person, manager to manager, and that helped a lot to move on and straightaway get into talks with new possibilities which of course lifted my spirits.”
Van Nistelrooy previously spent time in charge of PSV, winning the Dutch Cup and Dutch Super Cup during the 2022/23 season, in addition to a spell as the assistant coach of the Netherlands national team.
He will take charge of his first Leicester game on Tuesday when his side welcome West Ham United to the King Power Stadium.
Leicester, who fell to a 4-1 defeat to Brentford last Saturday, are 16th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone.
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‘I’m not a romantic’, 3-box-3, experience – Van Nistelrooy’s first Leicester press conference
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
