Manchester United have ended the Ruud van Nistelrooy era with a victory having comfortably beaten Leicester City 3-0 at Old Trafford.
This was Manchester United’s final game before the international break, and this break is bigger than most for United.
This will mark the arrival of new manager Ruben Amorim as he coaches his final game at Sporting against Braga on Sunday evening.
United have appointed Amorim as the new head coach following the decision to sack Erik ten Hag and interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy took charge for the final time against Leicester City.
United coasted to victory with Bruno Fernandes opening the scoring before Victor Kristiansen’s own goal put United 2-0 up.
Substitute Alejandro Garnacho come off the bench to add number three, securing a 3-0 victory for Van Nistelrooy.
Bruno Fernandes on Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy
Amorim is set to arrive in Manchester in the coming days and that will raise question marks over the future of Van Nistelrooy.
Dutchman Van Nistelrooy only returned to United over the summer, joining Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff at Old Trafford.
Whether Amorim wants to keep hold of Van Nistelrooy is another matter though and a final decision has not yet been made by Amorim.
Van Nistelrooy’s time as interim boss is now over though and captain Bruno Fernandes has paid tribute to him.
Fernandes has told BBC Sport that Van Nistelrooy ‘wants to bring joy’ to United given his love for the club.
Fernandes added that he wanted to ‘say goodbye’ to Van Nistelrooy as a manager because he has brought a smile to everybody during his time in charge.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy fills the club, he loves the club, he wants to bring joy to the players. He brought everyone with a smile to the games, he just wanted us to enjoy it. We wanted to say goodbye as a manager for him properly because he did good things for us.
How Ruud van Nistelrooy reacted at full time
Fernandes made sure to say that he is just saying goodbye to Van Nistelrooy ‘as a manager’ for now, because his future is unclear.
Van Nistelrooy may have given the biggest indication himself though.
As posted by Manchester World’s Rich Fay, Van Nistelrooy appeared to say an emotional goodbye to United fans as he headed down the tunnel.
This would be a hammer blow for United fans, who have loved seeing Van Nistelrooy back involved at the club once again.
The reality is though that Amorim may not want to have Van Nistelrooy on his coaching staff if the Dutchman has even one eye on taking the United job down the line.
It’s a matter of trust and whilst we hope to see Van Nistelrooy stay, we are bracing for his exit after an emotional farewell on Sunday.
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