The South American midfielder enjoyed working with the prolific frontman and it was sad to see him leave for Real Madrid in 2006
Ruud van Nistelrooy would have “ended up breaking all club records” at Manchester United if he hadn’t moved to Real Madrid in 2006, says Quinton Fortune.
The prolific Dutch striker completed the move to Old Trafford in 2001 after seeing a serious injury prevent him from making a move earlier.
He was clearly in top form when he arrived in England, with 36 goals scored in his debut season.
In total, Van Nistelrooy would have scored 150 in just 219 appearances for the Red Devils.
That comeback made him sit just outside the top 10 in the club’s all-time chart and 103 behind Wayne Rooney.
The UK’s top marksman set a new benchmark in 2017, but Fortune believes Van Nistelrooy would have achieved that feat much sooner had he not been allowed to leave Manchester.
The former United midfielder told the club Series without script: “Ruud was a machine. If he had stayed at United longer he would have scored more goals and would have ended up breaking all club records, I think.
“Every day in training was relentless. It was like Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer]; whenever he had an opportunity in training, he would hit the target. Boom, hits the target, makes the goalkeeper work, always with a clean shot.
“His movement off the ball was a joke, and when you have someone like that to play with [Juan Sebastian] Veron (another genius), Scholesy [Paul Scholes], Becks [David Beckham]… run the run and you’ll get the ball. Run into the right space with the right movement and they will find you. Ruud knew how to do it perfectly.
“We would win games and Ruud would have been angry if he hadn’t scored. This is how the boy was obsessed or passionate about scoring goals. He dominated his thinking.
“Every time I got an assist for him, I was so happy because I knew how much it meant to him just to score a goal. It was cool because the guy was obsessed with scoring.
“When we won but he didn’t score, he would have been the only player who didn’t seem happy in the locker room afterwards. He wouldn’t hide it, his head would be lowered, but that’s how he was obsessed with scoring. “
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