Two weeks after leaving Man Utd, Ruud van Nistelrooy accepted to lead Leicester City - the team that just fired Steve Cooper due to poor performance in the Premier League.
Van Nistelrooy will soon take up the job and could make his debut in the away match against Brentford in round 13 of the Premier League on November 30.
His task is to quickly improve the form of Leicester, the team is in 16th place after 12 rounds, just one point above the relegation zone.
On November 23, after losing 1-2 to Chelsea in round 12 of the Premier League, Leicester terminated the contract with Steve Cooper - who was appointed at the beginning of the season to replace Enzo Maresca who moved to Chelsea. Cooper became the second coach to be fired in the Premier League this season, after Erik ten Hag at Man Utd.
The King Power Stadium owner then looked at many candidates, but preferred to choose someone who was a free agent because he did not want to pay compensation for his contract. In the end, only Van Nistelrooy met the criteria. According to British newspapersMirror, the Dutch coach will sign a two-and-a-half-year contract.
During his professional career, Van Nistelrooy played for his hometown clubs Den Bosch, Heerenveen and PSV before playing for Man Utd from 2001 to 2006. At Old Trafford, he scored 150 goals in 219 matches, won one Premier League, one FA Cup, one League Cup and was the Premier League's top scorer in the 2002-2003 season with 25 goals.
After playing for Real Madrid, Hamburg and Malaga, he retired and gradually moved into coaching. The 47-year-old former player worked as an assistant for the Dutch national team and the PSV youth team before being appointed as the head coach of the PSV first team, replacing Roger Schmidt from the 2022-2023 season. He helped the team win the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup, but left the team after only one season due to conflicts with the board of directors.
In the summer of 2024, Van Nistelrooy returned to Man Utd as assistant to Erik ten Hag. After his compatriot was sacked on October 28, he was appointed as interim coach, making a strong impression with a draw and three wins - including two against Leicester. He later expressed his desire to stay at Man Utd, but was not accepted by new coach Ruben Amorim.
TH (according to VnExpress)