Profile
Ruud van Nistelrooy reached United a year later than planned. The club had tracked his scoring at PSV Eindhoven, but a serious knee injury delayed the move that eventually happened in 2001. That context matters because he arrived with both expectation and proof of resilience: United were buying a striker whose game depended on explosive penalty-area movement after a major physical setback.
Once fit, Van Nistelrooy was almost brutally direct in what he gave United. He lived between centre-backs, timed runs across the last defender, attacked rebounds and treated half-chances as if they had been designed for him. His first touch was often functional rather than decorative, but inside the box his economy was exceptional. He did not need many touches to change a match.
His United peak came in a side that was evolving away from the Treble-era forward rotation. Beckham, Giggs, Scholes and later Cristiano Ronaldo could provide service, but Van Nistelrooy was the fixed point. He won the Premier League Golden Boot, scored relentlessly in Europe and became, for a time, United's most reliable route to goal. The criticism was that the team sometimes became too centred on him; the counterargument is that goals at that rate inevitably pull a team toward the scorer.
The Arsenal rivalry sharpened his public image. The missed penalty and confrontation in the 2003 Battle of Old Trafford, followed by later scoring runs and title pressure, made him one of the rivalry's main figures. He was not a neutral character in matches. He played with a visible hunger that opponents found provocative and supporters found reassuring.
His departure in 2006 followed tension around selection, the League Cup final benching and reports of a breakdown with Ferguson and teammates. Real Madrid benefited from what United moved away from. At Old Trafford, the verdict is simpler than the ending: Van Nistelrooy was one of the most concentrated finishers the club has had, a striker whose United career was short compared with some greats but statistically and stylistically unmistakable.