“Those five years at Manchester United were fantastic”

Having departed from Manchester United on bad terms, Ruud Van Nistelrooy has finally buried the hatchet with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Van Nistelrooy, the club’s eighth highest goalscorer, left the club under a dark cloud amidst rumours of a bust up with Cristiano Ronaldo. His reaction after the Carling Cup win was particularly memorable as he looked withdrawn whilst his team mates celebrated the silverware and upon joining Real Madrid, Van Nistelrooy claimed that the rift between he and Sir Alex was the only reason he left.

But speaking in the magazine Voetball International, the striker claims the two have finally reconciled:

“My wife suggested I sent Ferguson a text to see if he was willing to talk and when I sent him a message asking if I could ring him he replied to say: ‘OK, call me at this date and time.’ I rang him and he answered and said: ‘OK, fine, go ahead.’ I said I wanted to apologise for what had happened and he replied: ‘Fine, I appreciate that, when we meet again it will be OK.’ That was great to know.”

“I told him: ‘Those five years at Manchester United were fantastic, and working with you, and it’s really unfortunate what happened.’ I’m really glad it’s finished now.”

Having left Madrid last January, Van Nistelrooy is apparently in the motions of rejoining the Spanish club from Hamburg to provide cover up top as Gonzalo Higuain is out injured.