Career in the Netherlands
Van Nistelrooy started off as a central defender and was then moved to central midfield for Dutch second division side, FC Den Bosch, but was converted into a centre forward at SC Heerenveen in 1997. In 1998, on his 22nd birthday, he was signed by PSV Eindhoven for ƒ14 million or €6.3 million, a then-record sum of money for a transfer between two Dutch football clubs.
He started his professional career with Den Bosch as a midfielder in 1993 after playing part-time for Nooit Gedacht and Magriet. Played only twice for Den Bosch in his first season, and it wasn't until 1997 that he hit form.
After netting 12 goals in 13 games, Heerenveen came calling and he made the switch, scoring 13 goals in 31 games in his first season.
In first season at PSV scored 31 goals in 34 matches - the highest in the league and second-highest in Europe and was voted Dutch Player of the Year by fellow professionals. He returned to action in March 2001 and was immediately back among the goals, scoring twice to help PSV into the Dutch Cup final.
Van Nistelrooy was tracked by many of the top clubs due to his prolific record with PSV, in his second season at the club he had netted another 29 goals and was again the top scorer in Holland.
He first international goal came in 1999 in a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Morocco.
Darren Ferguson, son of Sir Alex, alerted his father to the player's capabilities but PSV Eindhoven stole in to pay Heerenveen £3.4m on his 22nd birthday. Just four months later he made his debut for Holland against Germany.
The transfer initially collapsed in the summer of 2000 when Van Nistelrooy broke down in training with a cruciate knee ligament injury just days after an £18.5million move to Old Trafford had hit the skids after United's medical team had found problems with his medial ligaments.
United were forced to pay PSV an increased price of £19million for the player's services and the forward passed a thorough medical. He signed a five-year contract with the then Premiership champions.
He eventually joined Manchester United for a British record fee of £19million in April 2001.
Manchester United
Manchester United almost signed van Nistelrooy on 25 April 2000 for a fee of £18.3 million. However, the deal fell through when van Nistelrooy failed a medical due to a cruciate knee ligament injury which he suffered in training in March 2000.
However, Manchester United and Alex Ferguson persevered, and almost exactly a year later, 24-year-old van Nistelrooy signed for a then British transfer record, and still the Dutch football transfer record of £19 million on 23 April 2001 from PSV. During his first season at Manchester United, he proved his worth by scoring 23 goals in 32 games, achieving a feat of scoring in a record eight consecutive Premier League games. He also scored ten Champions League goals capping an incredible debut season by being named the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
During the following year, the 2002–03 season, van Nistelrooy scored 25 Premier League goals (including a stunning goal which he started from the half way line against Fulham) and 12 goals in the Champions League (a tournament record) while leading Manchester United to the Premier League title.
Van Nistelrooy started off the 2003–04 season in spectacular fashion, scoring twice in his first two league games. Which added on to his run of form at the end of the previous season meant he equalled the all time top flight scoring in consecutive games record of 10 games. He also managed to score his 100th and 101st goals for the club against Everton at Goodison Park on 7 February 2004, as United earned a 4–3 Premiership victory. In that season he broke Denis Law's European goal scoring record for Manchester United. Van Nistelrooy was famously attacked by Martin Keown in a match against Keown's team, Arsenal, after missing a penalty against the London side for the third time, as well as signing a new contract which would keep him at the club until the summer of 2008 and the age of 32.
In 2004 in a survey on Manchester United's official website Ruud was voted "Ferguson's best bargain buy" by over 10,000 fans worldwide even beating the likes of Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Peter Schmeichel to the accolade.
Van Nistelrooy missed a large part of the 2004–05 Premiership season through injury, but was still the top goalscorer in the Champions League with 8 goals. He is currently the fourth most prolific scorer in European Cup/UEFA Champions League together with Eusébio, with 47 goals, only behind Alfredo Di Stéfano, Andriy Shevchenko, and current leader Raúl.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, van Nistelrooy returned to form, scoring in United's first four Premiership games. He went on to finish as the second-highest scorer in the Premiership with 21 goals, behind Thierry Henry of Arsenal.
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