Ruud van Nistelrooy reveals job offers as Leicester City manager left 'astonished'
Ruud van Nistelrooy turned down job offers to join Leicester City with the manager “astonished” by the level of interest that emerged following his stint at Manchester United.
The new City boss faced the media for the first time on Monday afternoon and revealed that his new club were not the only side trying to recruit him. An unbeaten four-game spell as United’s interim boss propelled him into the limelight, and that led to conversations with a number of clubs..
While Van Nistelrooy did not name them, he was reportedly a target for his former side Hamburg in Bundesliga 2. The Dutchman was surprised it took a spell with United to get those sorts of calls, despite his positive experience as PSV boss.
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He said at his press conference: “To be fair, what happened after the games (with United), the amount of interest that all of a sudden was there for me and the options that came along, I was astonished by it. It was four games.
“I’ve managed a full season at PSV, I was able to win the cup and the charity shield, I had the year before with Jong PSV. I’ve been in coaching in the 19s before and with the national team. It never got this reaction from the football world.
“Apparently it provoked these reactions. I was only happy with that, to get into conversations with different parties and to be able to make a decision that felt really good for me.
“I have to say there were offers there and possibilities. It's good to have them, and look and be critical on where you're going to work. I went into conversations with Leicester because I thought, having spoken to other people, I felt it was a great opportunity to get to know each other.
“It was a good feeling, and in the end both parties felt it. That was a good reason to start working together.”
Those conversations with City included discussions over the team’s objective this season: survival. Van Nistelrooy will make his debut as manager on Tuesday night against West Ham at the King Power Stadium, with City starting the game one point above the drop zone.
