It’s official folks.
In a press conference in Durban (on the launch of United’s new home kit, amongst other things), Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Ruud van Nistelrooy had officially told Manchester United that he wanted to leave.
Two things about this piss me off. First, Fergie waits until he is off in SA before going public with the news – thus guaranteeing that 1) He will not have to face much press and 2) Ruud will not be returning for ‘pre-season training’ to Manchester United on July 24.
That leaves the striker less than 10 days to broker a deal with either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, with Capello’s side favourites to reel the Dutch striker in. I wrote earlier today about rumours that Ruud had already agreed personal terms with Madrid, and all that remained was for Manchester United and Madrid to agree on terms. Thing is, Manchester United are more eager to sell Nistelrooy than Madrid are keen to buy, so we can expect a 10-12 million pounds deal instead of the 16 million evaluation. More on this as the news breaks.
What about Ruud man himself? My guess is that Ferguson has told him quite clearly that he will be third choice next year, and the Dutch striker will not accept that sort of humiliation especially considering his goalscoring record. Ferguson has pushed Ruud into a corner, and that was the only way Ferguson could sell Nistelrooy while keeping himself with a clean image.
The club, though, is bigger than the players and the manager. Ferguson has bet on the future of Manchester United and that is Ronaldo and Rooney.
But we need more.
And that West Brom keeper ain’t gonna cut it as ‘the future’.
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