Leicester sign van Nistelrooy as manager after his impressive Man Utd spell

Ruud van Nistelrooy was appointed manager of Leicester City on Friday following his impressive interim coaching spell at former club Manchester United, which included two victories for his new team.

After being promoted last season, van Nistelrooy, 48, signed a deal until June 2027 to take over the team in fifth-to-last place in the English Premier League.

Van Nistelrooy, a former Netherlands striker who played for Man United and Real Madrid, became United’s assistant coach in July as a successor to Erik ten Hag. Before Ruben Amorim was appointed Ten Hag’s full-time replacement, Van Nistelrooy took over the reins after Ten Hag was let go last month. He won three victories and a draw in four of his four games.

In addition to those victories, the English League Cup winners were 5-2 winners over the Foxes and 3-0 winners over the Foxes in the Premier League.

“I’m proud, I’m excited. Everybody that I speak to about Leicester is enthusiastic”, Van Nistelrooy said.

This will be van Nistelrooy’s second senior full-time managerial role, having led PSV Eindhoven for almost a season and winning the Dutch Cup before quitting near the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, chairman of Leicester, said, “Ruud’s experience, knowledge, and winning mentality will undoubtedly bring great value to us,” and we look forward to supporting him in helping our fans and our club succeed.

Leicester, which fired Steve Cooper last weekend after just two wins from its 12 league games so far, plays Brentford away on Saturday. Van Nistelrooy will not be in charge then but will be in attendance, with the team being led by first-team coach Ben Dawson.

Cooper’s departure, according to Dawson, was “a little bit unexpected,” and the players “shared some of that unexpectedness” early in the week.

He added the club’s hierarchy “dealt” with the fallout from a Christmas party that Leicester’s players had in Copenhagen last weekend, images of which have circulated on social media.

OInone video, a sign bearing the words “Enzo I miss you” was carried around a nightclub where Leicester’s players were partying. Cooper’s predecessor was Enzo Maresca, who joined Chelsea in the offseason.

Cooper was fired a day after the party in Copenhagen.

British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported this week that Leicester’s Thai owner, Aiyawatt, held a meeting with the players after being left disappointed by the footage.