Ruud van Nistelrooy Bio Send To Friend  

After a season in which Van Nistelrooy found his goalscoring talents sidelined by injury he burst back onto the Premiership scene in 2005/06.

The Manchester United striker returned to his plundering best alongside Wayne Rooney, topping the division's goalscoring charts.

He had suffered his first barren season in United colours in 2004/05, scoring a paltry six league goals.

Though some United fans may claim he is still not the player they signed from PSV Eindhoven for £19million, his goal return suggests otherwise.

He started his professional career with Den Bosch as a midfielder in 1993 after playing part-time for Nooit Gedacht and Magriet. He 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.

Darren Ferguson, son of Sir Alex, alerted his father to the player's capabilities but PSV Eindhoven stole in to pay Heerenveen £3.4million on his 22nd birthday. Just four months later he made his debut for Holland against Germany.

He first international goal came in 1999 in a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Morocco.

In his first season at PSV he scored 31 goals in 34 matches - the highest in the league and second-highest in Europe and he was voted Dutch Player of the Year by fellow professionals.

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.

The striker was tracked by Manchester United and looked certain to move to Old Trafford in the summer of 2000.

But the transfer collapsed when Van Nistelrooy broke down in training with a cruciate knee ligament injury just days after the £18.5million deal had hit the skids after United's medical team had found problems with his medial ligaments.

He returned to action in March 2001 and was immediately back among the goals, scoring twice to help PSV into the Dutch Cup final.

United were forced to pay PSV an increased price of £19million for the player's services and the forward passed a thorough medical.

From his career lying in tatters on an Eindhoven training ground Van Nistelrooy became one of the most coveted strikers in Europe.

After a goal on his debut in the Charity Shield against Liverpool, his start to the 2000/01 season was slower than expected, - perhaps a legacy of the much-criticised 4-5-1 formation Sir Alex Ferguson employed in United's stuttering start to the season.

Rutgerus, as he is known to his mum, led United's charge back to the top with a run of eight goals in eight games and he was also on fire in the Champions League where he finished top scorer in the competition with ten goals.

In Europe he played in that lone role and grew into a target man of real class, though it was in tandem with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that the Dutchman really flew.

After such a long period out through injury he was always likely to run out of steam and so it proved as United faltered at the final hurdle. Though the club finished potless, Van Nistelrooy himself won the PFA Player of the Year Award.

The 2002/03 season again began slowly and when injury ruled him out for a month in October it looked like it may not be his season.

But Van Nistelrooy oozes class. He went on am amazing scoring run, netting in ten consecutive games - twelve if you include internationals. The eight consecutive Premiership games in which he scored put him in sight of his own record.

The best was a fine solo goal against Fulham, with a run starting in the central circle and culminating in a sublime finish.

Without doubt the Dutchman powered United to the title, and if the PFA voted for their player of the season in May he would surely have come out the victor.

He netted a phenomenal 47 goals for club and country in 2002/03, to add to the 43 from the season before.

Although his performances may not have been as prolific in 2003/04, he still plundered 37 goals in all competitions - 20 in 31 starts in the Premiership.

And he was a star of Euro 2004, joint second top scorer in the tournament with Wayne Rooney on four goals, one behind Milan Baros.

After the signing of Alan Smith in the summer of 2004 he was strongly linked with a move to both Barcelona and Real Madrid, but both player and club insisted he would be going nowhere.

He struggled for form and fitness in 2004/05. He missed the start of the season following a hernia operation last month and then faced a three-month lay-off after being injured in November. It started off as a calf injury is now an Achilles injury.

It was a blow for United, as the striker had scored eight goals in six matches - including a four-goal haul in the Champions League group game against Sparta Prague.

Van Nistelrooy was back for the season run-in, but he looked off the pace and managed to bag only four goals in the 13 remaining games.

Though he scored 20 goals in all competitions in 2004/05, his return of six in the Premiership was hugely disappointing. It was the first time he had failed to reach 20.

Back to fitness for 2005/06, Van Nistelrooy found the goals flowing freely once more. His partnership with England striker Wayne Rooney continued to blossom and while United had problems in other areas of the pitch the strikeforce was deadly.

He made his 200th club appearance in 2005/06 and bagged his 150th goal to continue an amazing goals to games ratio for the Red Devils.