Van Nistelrooy: I've joined a real team

Steve Curry|Daily Mail13 April 2012

Ruud Van Nistelrooy has revealed that he turned down Real Madrid to join Manchester United because he believes 11 individual stars don't always make the best football team.

The £19million Holland striker said yesterday: 'The chairman of PSV told me Real Madrid had made a late bid, but I told him I was clear in my mind about what I wanted to do. It was an easy decision for me. I only wanted to go to one club. I am happy with United.

'I know I would have been playing with great players in Spain, but we have great players, too. You can have 11 stars but for me the way the group at United sticks together is an important quality. The team must do everything for each other.

'It is a great group to be in for encouragement. You can tell the core of the side has been together from their youth team days and I put great value on that.'

Van Nistelrooy has no regrets that he is not starting the new season with Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu Stadium wearing the famous white shirt of Real.

But, while Real missed out on their man, the Spanish club's president, Florentino Perez, revealed he wants to follow United's example.

Perez said last night: 'In terms of organisation, marketing and professionalism, without doubt Manchester United are the team to copy.'

Van Nistelrooy, who has scored three goals in two games on his new club's Far East tour, with one match to come, against Thailand on Sunday, has given his first insight into life as a newcomer with the champions.

'Sir Alex told me that as I had only just joined the club it was difficult for me to comprehend how hard it is playing for them and how big Manchester United really is.

' It is very difficult to imagine before you arrive at the club just how big it is. It makes you wonder why the interest is so global.'

Ferguson has always maintained that it takes a special kind of character to make a United player because of that weight of expectation.

But it doesn't faze Van Nistelrooywho added: 'I have my expectations of what I can achieve at the club.

'I know what I am capable of so other people can expect what they want. My first week of training made me aware of what level I was coming into. It is not just having David Beckham on one wing and Ryan Giggs on the other, even though they are both superb players.

'It is also the midfield with players like Keane, Veron, Butt and Scholes. It is just unbelievable. It must be the strongest midfield there is at the moment.

'As a striker it is perfect to play in there because you get the ball where you want it. When you make a movement the ball is there. I scored two goals in Malaysia from two great passes.'

Van Nistelrooy already knows that skipper Roy Keane is the man who calls the shots. He said: 'Everyone is aware of Roy all the time. He can be joking one minute and serious the next.'

The fact that Ferguson took such a sympathetic stance over the Dutchman when he ruptured knee ligaments - even visiting him in Holland - was a key factor in his transfer going through a year late.

He said: 'Sir Alex has a great bond with the players. The few words he said before the game against Malaysia and Singapore gives you the right feeling to perform. There are little things that make him special. Van Nistelrooy last night revealed just how frightened he and his Holland team-mates were that they had innocently taken the banned steroid nandrolone.

Edgar Davids and Frank De Boer both received 12-month FIFA bans after they tested positive for the steroid earlier this year. Juventus midfielder Davids was suspended from football for a year on May 31 and a similar ban on Barcelona man De Boer followed on June 14.

De Boer appears before a UEFA appeals body today attempting to overturn his ban, although he knows his chances are slim.

Van Nistelrooy was one of the Holland players who was concerned the nandrolone might have come from tablets the Dutch players had been asked to take before the European Championship. He said: 'When I heard about it I was frightened. For the European Championship we had been given vitamin C and multi vitamins to take. When I heard about Edgar, I had my tablets tested because I thought I might have it, too.

'The club doctor at PSV had the tablets tested and he said everything was fine. Jaap Stam did the same. There seem to be three possible causes. The first is if someone takes nandrolone. The second is the factory which produces vitamins but also other products with nandrolne in them. The third possibility is making it within your own body.'

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in