The fan favourite scored 150 goals in 219 appearances between 2001 and 2006, winning a Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup before leaving in somewhat acrimonious fashion. A lot changed at United between then and when Van Nistelrooy returned to Old Trafford in the summer as one of Erik ten Hag’s assistants as part of a backroom team reshuffle. The 48-year-old recently stepped up to interim manager and is taking charge of one last match at home to Leicester on Sunday before new head coach Ruben Amorim begins his post.
Asked what has changed at United in his time away, Van Nistelrooy said: “Leaving in 2006, 18 years ago, it’s quite a time I wasn’t part of the club, so it’s such a big question to answer, to see what happened in those 18 years. “For me the challenge was to come back and the motivation to be part of this, that I feel the potential of this club will always be there. “The people that actually are here and working, that’s what I experienced when I joined the club, feels similar.
It feels the same club. “That togetherness, that willingness to do better and to do well, that’s what the motivation is for all the people that work here and also the players. “The target is clear also, from where we are now, to improve.
That will take time and it will take hard work, but that is the challenge for me. “Not necessarily to analyse what happened in the past but to start working and make things better. That’s what I try to do every day.
” Van Nistelroo.