Ex-Man Utd star 'never thought' Ruud van Nistelrooy would become a manager and names teammate he expected instead

One of Ruud van Nistelrooy's former Manchester United teammates has explained why he didn't see him becoming a coach - and named the player he did predict would go into management.

Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals for United, assumed the manager's job at Old Trafford on an interim basis following the sacking of Erik ten Hag on Monday.

The former Netherlands international returned to the club as a coach in the summer and led United to an entertaining 5-2 Carabao Cup win over Leicester City.

Scoring five goals against Premier League opposition was something Ten Hag failed to do and Van Nistelrooy will be hoping to continue in the same vein as interim manager before Ruben Amorim officially joins as permanent manager on November 11.

Van Nistelrooy had a spell in charge of another of his former clubs in PSV Eindhoven, winning the KNVB Cup and the Johan Cruyff shield. However ex United midfielder Kleberson did not expect him to become a manager, instead tipping Gary Neville to do so.

"At the time when I was at United, I never thought of Ruud as a manager," Kleberson said, speaking exclusively to SPORTbible via the home of Champions League betting.

"I know he is a really big energy guy and to do everything that he can for the club, but to be seen as a manager. It has really surprised me because as a player he was an individual who would want to win the title by scoring as many goals as possible, to put the team at the top of the table that way.

"From my time at United, there was only one player that I expected to become a coach, and he did try at one time, and that was Gary Neville! Gary was a leader and a coach for the other players. I didn’t expect that [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer would become a coach, and you would see the players openly and what they were like and I wouldn’t have expected anyone else to become a coach other than Gary Neville."

Image: Getty

Neville had an infamously poor spell in charge of La Liga side Valencia, as well as working with the England national team under Roy Hodgson. He has continued to work as a pundit for Sky Sports, ITV and most recently NBC.

Amorim, meanwhile, is expected to bring his own backroom staff with him at United but Van Nistelrooy is hopeful of staying on as an assistant, stating he is "very motivated to stay here and help the club forward".