Manchester United have a number of candidates on their shortlist of potential interim replacements for Ruben Amorim until the end of the season
Ruud van Nistelrooy is reportedly one man on Manchester United’s shortlist of potential managers to take over until the end of the season – a matter of months after the Dutchman was torn apart by one of his former players.
Van Nistelrooy, who had a four-game spell as United’s caretaker boss last season, has been out of work since leaving Leicester City back in June. But according to the Daily Mail, the 49-year-old is being considered by United as someone that could take charge until the end of the campaign, after Ruben Amorim was sacked.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who previously spent almost three years as United’s manager between 2018 and 2021, is among the frontrunners on the shortlist alongside Van Nistelrooy.
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Should Van Nistelrooy be given the United job, it would be his first managerial role since a disastrous seven-month stint at Leicester last season. Van Nistelrooy took over from Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium in November 2024, but won just five of his 27 Premier League matches in charge. The Foxes ended up finishing 18th, 10 points adrift of safety and became the first top-flight club to go nine games without scoring at home.
Van Nistelrooy’s record at Leicester was dismal, it’s safe to say, and it hasn’t convinced many of his managerial capabilities. Someone who wasn’t convinced was Odsonne Edouard, who spent last season on loan at the Foxes from Crystal Palace. Edouard, 27, made six appearances under Cooper before being completely cast aside by Van Nistelrooy. The Frenchman made the bench just once under the ex-PSV Eindhoven boss.
After finding his form with Lens this season, scoring seven times in 14 Ligue 1 matches, Edouard delivered a brutal verdict on Van Nistelrooy back in October and said he is not a ‘great coach’.
“Being a great striker doesn’t necessarily mean being a great coach,” Edouard told L’Equipe. “After training, I would do an even harder session with my fitness coach. I didn’t give up.
“Leicester, it had a professional impact on me. I don’t really have any reasons. At the beginning, I played a little [under Steve Cooper], then things didn’t work out with Van Nistelrooy.
“I didn’t get along well with Van Nistelrooy. I found myself blocked for seven months without playing.”
Before his troubled time at Leicester, Van Nistelrooy enjoyed a successful four-game reign as United’s caretaker head coach following Erik ten Hag’s dismissal in October 2024. He won three and drew the other of his four matches, with two of those victories coming against Cooper’s Leicester in the Carabao Cup and Premier League. Van Nistelrooy’s other win came against PAOK in the Europa League, while the draw came at home to Chelsea.
Amorim was then appointed as United’s new head coach and he decided not to keep Van Nistelrooy, who was offered the Leicester job two weeks later, as part of his backroom staff.
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
