Premier League

Van Nistelrooy reveals reason why he had Man Utd training ground ‘argument’ with Ronaldo

Man Utd duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy look dejected

Former Man Utd striker Ruud van Nistelrooy insists his “argument” with legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo was “blown up” out of proportion.

The former Netherlands international’s time at Old Trafford overlapped with Ronaldo’s first spell at Man Utd for three seasons.

Both Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy have brilliant goalscoring records from during their time at Old Trafford but Ronaldo’s improved a lot when the Dutch striker left Old Trafford.

It has been previously reported that the pair didn’t see eye to eye when Ronaldo first joined in 2003 with Van Nistelrooy telling him to ‘join the circus’ during a training ground bust-up.

But Van Nistelrooy insists that the training round spat has been “blown up” and now the former Man Utd duo have a “perfect” relationship.

Van Nistelrooy told Gary Neville on The Overlap YouTube channel: “People talk about the Ronaldo situation a lot don’t they,” Neville said. “I was frustrated at the time because I was used to playing with David (Beckham). It was telepathy, we knew exactly what he was going to do.

“Then Cristiano came and it was different. He was running everywhere he would dribble, he would be unpredictable.”

Neville then asked: “Did you feel frustration with Cristiano?”

To which Van Nistelrooy responded: ‘It got a bit out of hand with that situation. I think the way we are in a relationship Cristiano and I is fine, now, in general. It’s been really blown up.

“It was an argument in training. That’s the story but in the end we figured it out together and we moved on and the relationship is perfect.

“It was a transition moment in the team with younger guys. Rooney came, Ronaldo came, young promising guys. We needed some time to adjust.

“I would also talk to me now if I was coaching. I would say ‘this is a transition moment, you need to have patience with these young guys’. We didn’t have patience.”

The Dutchman, who is currently PSV Eindhoven manager, also recalled the time he ended up getting his hair cut because he grew so tired of Roy Keane’s digs about his headband.

Van Nistelrooy asked Neville: “Roy with my headband, remember that? He killed me for four months. When I came, I had to put a headband in my hair and I’d put it on for training. I went in the dressing room to the mirrors and he would swear at me!

“This went on for months and, in the end, I actually had enough and I cut my hair!”

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